There’s a reason why the new Jet Black iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus you want is out of stock.
The new handset faces a global shortage as the new high-gloss finish has proven challenging for the company’s manufacturers.
The Jet Black models apparently suffer from a low casing production yield rate of 60 to 70 percent, meaning 30 to 40 percent of units do not pass Apple’s quality standards test and must be retooled. The report comes from a recent note hailing from KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
Apple says the high-gloss Jet Black finish is achieved through a precision nine-step anodization and polishing process.
As such, some shipping estimates for the Jet Black models have slipped to November while other iPhone 7 Plus models in the Jet Black color are now shipping sooner than expected. In-store availability of Jet Black models remains scarce, with only a few Apple Stores in France carrying the Jet Black iPhone 7 as of the time this article was published.
Kuo offered the following comments in his note:
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.
The analyst reiterated his prediction that iPhone 7 series shipments in 2016 will fall short of iPhone 6s series shipments in 2015.