16 Macworld • February 2022NEWS ANALYSIS
production to make as many iPhone
13 handsets as possible.
Finally, yes it’s possible that a
bunch of expected upgraders might
have decided to sit this one out,
especially since rumours of the
iPhone 14 are already setting it up
as a big upgrade.
But none of these things add
up to doom or gloom. iPhone sales
aren’t just going to fall off a cliff one
day. It might have looked that way
in 2019 when iPhone sales fell by
an uncharacteristic amount, but
Apple responded with the iPhone 11,
SE and 12, and everything was fine.
And besides, it’s hard to believe that
iPhones were in such demand in the
autumn that Apple wasn’t able to fulfilAccording to Bloomberg’s reports, it’s not just the mini
that’s struggling this year.orders until January
and now that they can
get them people don’t
want them.
While it’s true that
the iPhone isn’t as
backlogged as we had
originally feared and
Apple is likely cutting
back on some January
orders, it’s probably
not due to flagging
demand. The truth is
likely somewhere in the
middle: Apple sold more
iPhones than it expected over the
past two months due to Tim Cook’s
expertise in supply chain management
but not before some people who
couldn’t get the iPhone 13 decided
to just buy an iPhone 12 instead.
Apple is going to make a ton of
money this quarter, almost certainly
more than any other quarter in its
history. And it’ll probably leave
some money on the table due to the
supply crunch. But there’s nothing
to worry about.