Supply chain sources in Taiwan have revealed that Apple has delayed the mass production of its next-generation MacBook Air — originally scheduled to begin in the second quarter of 2018 — until the second half of the year, likely the third quarter. The sources added that the change in plans will impact negatively on them, due to low capacity utilisation and the high inventory of materials they had sourced ready for production.
Apple apparently did not offer an explanation for the delay. The new MacBook Air is believed to feature a Retina display and the latest Intel notebook processor. The company is also reported to be planning to price the model competitively in order to regain share from Chromebooks, at around $799 to $899. (Rumours Swirl about new MacBooks)
The sources pointed out that this year’s iPhones will also go into production during the third quarter of 2018 and if it does, suppliers may struggle to source enough staff to deal with the increased workload.
