AppleInsider Staff
Apple is reportedly securing dates for its upcoming fall shipments, expected to include new iPhone and iPad models, and the number of devices coming out of China is so large that major shipping companies are delaying orders from other device makers.
According to TechCrunch, Apple's preparations for the upcoming holiday quarter are already causing a logistics nightmare for companies like FedEx and UPS, which are reportedly strapped for capacity after seeing a flood of bookings.
Carriers are telling customers that shipments for a "very important customer" are causing them to miss promised deadlines, according to one unnamed company. With very few corporations in need of such immediate high-capacity services, and even fewer coming out of China's electronics manufacturing regions, Apple is thought to be behind the overflow.
Shipping companies have learned to plan for Apple's yearly refresh cycles. For example, FedEx in 2012 braced employees for "surge volume" reportedly attributed to the iPhone 5 launch. The batch of devices coming out of China this year, however, appears to be overwhelming.
Apple is expected to announce two new iPhone models at an event scheduled for Sept. 9, which is also said to feature the unveiling of a wearable "iWatch" device. While the iPhones are thought to ship later this month, the iWatch will likely hit store shelves in 2015.
The iPad line is also due for a refresh and recent rumors point to a mention at next Tuesday's gathering, though the announcement is far from confirmed. Last year, Apple held a separate event in October to launch the iPad Air and iPad mini with Retina display.
Christine McKee
Charles Martin
Oliver Haslam
William Gallagher
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67 Comments
A story about delayed manufacturing that explicitly ISN’T Apple? I shifted dimensions again, didn’t I…
Well, no one is being forced to do anything. I suspect that Apple has contracted for a massive amount of space on the shippers vessels. Most likely the shippers get paid regardless of whether any merchandise is actually shipped. Any company willing to lay down the cash can do the same. That is one advantage of having billions of dollars just sitting around.
Yeah, cry me a river...
DATELINE: South Keora Samsung announced today that while they have the capacity to produce product for the American Holiday market, they can not secure a sipping method that can get their product to the USA shores before the end of 2014. Carriers are telling customers that shipments for a "much more important customer" are causing them to miss promised deadlines. Samsung's executives were told, "So solly Chalrie, you got iFrucked."
This is classic Apple. When they set up supplies and shipping systems they do it with strict contracts that their stuff will be on time. If they say they want 20 million units of X on this date and you say 'no problem' it had better be no problem or you will not get a second chance. This is what Tim Cook was responsible for under Steve Jobs and Tim did it very very well. There are countless stories of other companies allegedly having issues getting this or that part cause Apple bought the first whatever off the lines and everyone else had to wait. This time around I won't be shocked if it's the new mobile 802.11ac chips. it will be a huge coup for Broadcom to have announced those this past week and for Apple to have them in the iPhones and iPads cause they had already signed and sealed that deal and arranged to get them before the public knew they were ready.