The iPhone X launch will be a nightmare for all those people who won’t be able to get their preorders quick enough. Apple will have a limited number of iPhone X units on hand, with some reports claiming that only around 2-3 million will be ready for launch date.
But a new report from Japan says that Apple may have to settle for making just half of its planned iPhone X production this year.
Talking about iPhone X manufacturing has been such a roller coaster ride this year. Only a few days ago, some claimed that Apple fixed the issues affecting iPhone X production lines and that the company will meet its production target for 2017.
But Nikkei has a different take on the matter. Apparently, Apple is expected to ship just 20 million iPhone X units this year, half of the planned production.
The report says Apple still struggles “to solve technical issues with components supporting the model’s new face authentication feature.”
Nikkei learned that defects in the bonding process for the OLED panels affected mass-production at first, but the problem was “largely” solved around July. Nevertheless, manufacturers still struggled with Face ID components, and they were only able to improve the yield toward the end of September.
Apple is expected to make some 10 million iPhone X units per month at this point. Production may improve rapidly, but only if Apple secures enough components. Apparently, Apple has started negotiations with other manufacturers for additional production of certain parts. It’s unclear what these parts are supposed to be.
The iPhone X goes on sale this week, hitting stores on November 3rd.
