What They Say
Nikkei reports that some Apple MacBook and iPad production has been postponed because of chip supply issues. Some orders have been moved back from the first half of the year to the second. The paper pointed out that Apple’s huge purchasing power has not made the firm immune to challenges. Nikkei said that Apple sells more than 20 million MacBooks and 19 million iPads per year.
Production of the iPhone has not yet been affected, although Samsung has said that it may see some impact to its business in Q2.
Separately, Samsung said that its profits are expected to be up by 44.2% in Q1 from last year. Its guidance suggested $8.3 billion of profits on $58 billion of sales.
What We Think
Nothing really surprising here. Samsung is expected to pick up quite a bit of LG’s smartphone business, so should have another couple of strong quarters of smartphone sales. Of course, chip shortages won’t harm the margins of Samsung’s huge semiconductor business. (BR)
