Apple’s recently released iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus are available in a whole new color this time around, with the Jet Black offerings proving popular amongst those who have managed to get their hands on one. Unfortunately, managing to do that has been hard work, with the manufacturing process required in order to create that Jet Black chassis said to be causing problems for Apple and its suppliers.

According to KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, as many as 40% of the Jet Black iPhones that are currently being made are failing to pass Apple’s quality checking process, which then requires them to be remade.

This considerable rejection rate is believed to be behind a worldwide shortage of iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus handsets in that particular finish, with shipping estimates for Jet Black iPhones almost immediately stretching out into October and beyond once iPhones were available for pre-order.

As Kuo notes, though, normal iPhone demand may not be the only reason for such stock delays, with Samsung’s recent Galaxy Note 7 recall potentially part of the reason demand has been so high.

Early shortage not entirely due to market demand. Shipment time for online orders is on par with last year’s cycle, generally estimated within 2-3 weeks, with the exception of the jet black model, which suffers from a low casing production yield rate of 60-70%. However, with the number of countries in the first wave to debut the iPhone 7 rising to 28 this year, versus 12 for the iPhone 6S launch, we believe overall demand for iPhone 7 is lower than that of its predecessor. Regarding news of some mobile operators reporting pre-order growth for the iPhone 7 over last year’s 6S, we believe this is mainly attributable to market share gains for these mobile operators thanks to new promotions, rather than representing greater consumer demand.

Kuo still believes that the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus will fail to match sales figures set by the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus last year, perhaps in the belief that next year’s iPhone will prove to be the big seller given expectations that it will be a complete redesign in honor of the iPhone’s tenth birthday.

(Via: MacRumors)

You might also like to check out:

You can follow us on Twitter, add us to your circle on Google+ or like our Facebook page to keep yourself updated on all the latest from Microsoft, Google, Apple and the Web.

Related Stories