Apple's 'iPhone 8,' other high-end smartphones may hurt PC shipments

The glut of high-end smartphones expected to ship in the second half of 2017 — including Apple's "iPhone 8" and "7s" — may put such a heavy strain on parts suppliers that it will actually affect PC shipments, according to a report.

Ongoing shortages are only expected to worsen, supply chain sources told DigiTimes on Tuesday. On top of new iPhones coming this fall, LG is set to premiere its latest flagship, the V30, while Samsung is likely to announce the Galaxy Note 8 on Aug. 23, shipping it shortly thereafter. Following those launches, smaller phone vendors may prolong the situation by shipping phones with similar or even superior hardware.

Some companies are said to be overbooking parts to ensure consistent supplies. It's not clear if Apple is one of them, but the company is typically the highest-profile client for any given supplier. Regardless overbooking is said to be causing DRAM prices to rise, and may cause a-Si (amorphous silicon) panel costs to go up as well.

On Monday DigiTimes indicated that chip shipments are already unusually low for non-Apple products, likely because some companies are waiting to see what new iPhones will offer.

The "iPhone 8" is generally predicted to feature a 5.8-inch, edge-to-edge OLED display, replacing a physical home button with a virtual one. It should also come equipped with an "A11" processor, wireless charging, 3D facial recognition, and possibly a rear-facing laser for autofocus and augmented reality purposes.

The "iPhone 7s" and "7s Plus" should share some "8" technologies, like wireless charging, but rely on 4.7- and 5.5-inch LCD displays and retain physical home buttons.

7 Comments

rotateleftbyte 1630 comments · 12 Years

About 7 years ago

That's it, blame everything on Apple. It is not as if the arrival of a new iPhone and to a lesser extent other phones in the next few months is a surprise?
Really? Pigs might fly.

Sounds like someone needs a few stocks to rise (for a later selling off) to me.

Metriacanthosaurus 880 comments · 8 Years

Isn't there an obvious economic impact on similar industries during these epic launches? A person who spends $1000 on an iPhone is unlikely to spend $1000 on a PC in the same week, or month.

schlack 732 comments · 11 Years

Can't imagine they'd put a laser on the back at this point. So many other changes already in the works for the phone. Besides, their AR implementation is going to be backwards compatible so there's no need to introduce this kind of hardware and bifurcate the market until a nice support base has materialized around the shared hardware.

lkrupp 10521 comments · 19 Years

So bottom line, Tim Cook knows how to lock in component suppliers thereby guaranteeing Apple has enough parts to build its products while other less competent supply chain managers have to sit back and wait.

rotateleftbyte said:

That's it, blame everything on Apple. It is not as if the arrival of a new iPhone and to a lesser extent other phones in the next few months is a surprise?
Really? Pigs might fly.

Sounds like someone needs a few stocks to rise (for a later selling off) to me.

On the positive side this shows unequivocally that Apple is the BIG DOG in the tech playground. For all the talk about Apple losing its mojo, not innovating, playing catchup, falling behind, the usual blathering idiocy spewed by the naysayers, what Apple does often negatively impacts its competitors. Apple's competitors sit back and wait to see what Apple does, cowering at the thought they will be decimated. Others actively promote themselves for Apple buyouts.