Apple says chip shortage reaches iPhone, growth forecast slows
The HinduApple Inc said on Tuesday that a global chip shortage that has bit into its ability to sell Macs and iPads will start to affect iPhone production and forecasted slowing revenue growth, sending its shares lower. In a conference call with investors, Apple executives also said that the global chip shortage had a less severe impact than feared in the company's third quarter but will worsen in the fourth quarter, extending to iPhone production. Cook said Apple set quarterly sales records in many of its first-party services, including its AppleCare hardware insurance plans, which had slowed somewhat during the pandemic when many of the company's retail locations were closed. Last quarter, Apple had told investors that the global chip shortage could hold back sales by $3 billion to $4 billion. Cook told Reuters that although Apple was limited in how many Macs and iPads it could sell because of the shortage, the hit to Apple's overall revenue in the third quarter was "lower than the low end" of its previously forecasted range.