Apple sales have still grown year-over-year
Despite this hiccup, Apple has continued to see significant growth year-on-year in every other category, with an annual revenue jump of 33% from 2020, cashing in at $366 billion in Q4 of 2021.
- After iPhones, Apple’s service business (all the software-based income) grew 26% over the past year, beating expectations as always.
- Apple’s iPads grew by 21% since last year, earning over one billion above Refinitiv estimates, despite also being hit by the chip shortage.
- Apple’s Macs are seeing much slower growth, with only a 1.6% annual revenue increase (not including the MacBook Pros that were announced in October. Apple’s iPads grew
- Apple’s wearables and accessory sales grew collectively by 11%, not including products announced in October.
Here’s a table of how Apple measured up against Refinitiv estimates in the 2020-2021 fiscal year:
| Estimated Revenue | Actual Revenue | |
|---|---|---|
| EPS | $1.24 | $1.24 |
| Overall Revenue | $83.36 billion | $84.85 billion |
| iPhone | $38.87 billion | $41.51 billion |
| Services | $17.64 billion | $18.28 billion |
| Other Products | $8.79 billion | $9.33 billion |
| MacBooks | $9.18 billion | $9.23 billion |
| iPads | $7.23 billion | $8.25 billion |
| Gross Margin | 42.0% | 42.2% |
How is the company able to face the chip shortage so unwaveringly, seemingly feeling it far less than its competitors, you may ask? The answer is simple: foresight (and special treatment).
Apple is getting special treatment from foundries, keeping it afloat amidst the chip shortage
This means that although the Cupertino company is also feeling the effects of the shortage, it’s hardly reeling from them like some of the other smartphone manufacturers.
It’s not only that that’s keeping Apple afloat, either—TSMC is giving the company special treatment in other ways, too. As of January 2022, TSMC has announced a price hike of twenty percent for its chips, but Apple will be facing only a three-percent chip cost increase. Apple accounts for over 20% of TSMC’s revenue, which explains the preferential treatment, as unfair as it may seem for competitors.
The shortage also means a less powerful iPhone 14 SoC
Another, less direct, way in which Apple is being negatively impacted by the chip shortage involves the iPhone 14 SoC plans.
If we do see the 3nm process node in the iPhone 15’s 2023 A16 chip, it still has a chance of being the first smartphone ever to feature 3nm technology.
