Apple’s iPhone 11 Production Improves Along With AirPods

Apple’s supply chain was adversely affected due to the Coronavirus outbreak in China and other Asian countries where Apple has its plants and production centers. However, the new report published by Gene Munster, an analyst at Loup Ventures, published a report which analyses the recent improvements in Apple’s key product supply.

According to Munster, the supply chain of Apple’s four key products has improved significantly in 13 countries. The products that came out of the recent crisis include 64GB iPhone 11, 64GB iPhone 11 Pro, AirPods Pro, and 2^nd generation AirPods. The company has been tracking the Apple products supply since February.

Jumping more into the details, Apple is now able to reduce its shipping time to two days on average which came down from 6.7 days recorded on March 4. Similarly, the shipment time for AirPods has dropped from 10.6 days to 7.4 days on average. The restart of Chinese production has played a vital role in bringing down the shipment’s time.

How Outbreak Affected Apple’s Supply Chain?

According to Munster “In the case of the supply of Apple products over the past month, the key variable was the closure of manufacturing and assembly in China. In the days following Apple’s announcement that the March quarter would be below expectations on February 17, we saw lead times extend. In the days following reports of the restart of manufacturing in China, we’ve seen lead times to improve.”

This year, in mid-February, Foxconn planned to restart production and restore production capacity to 50% by the end of February. By March 12, Foxconn had resumed normal operations, a few weeks ahead of schedule. Apple is still measuring the effects and responding quickly to the new coronavirus epidemic, closing all retail stores outside Greater China, however, the company has also announced to reopen the stores in China as the Chinese government has significantly controlled the outbreak of disease. 

The company was also forced due to Coronavirus to adjust the way the annual global developer conference is held. And it announced last week that the event would be held entirely online. It was also reported earlier that the company has canceled the release of budget iPhone SE2 due to the affected supply chain.