Could Apple’s success come back to haunt it? Apple’s problems keeping up with iPhone 4 demand are causing some observers to question the company’s supply-chain management and leading frustrated customers to look at competing smartphones.
So says iSuppli. According to the market-research firm, Apple will ship 21.7 million iPhone 4s in 2010. That’s 51 percent of the 42.6 million iPhones the company will ship this year. The demand has seen Apple rise to the number-three position in the smartphone market, behind Nokia and Research In Motion. But shipping delays and shortages may be hurting Apple’s reputation.
“While the channel-supply issue might not impact total iPhone sales for the entire year, what is happening now certainly has done some damage to the Apple brand,” said Tina Teng, senior analyst for wireless communications at iSuppli. “Consumers, questioning Apple’s supply-chain management capability, have started looking for alternative devices. In particular, consumers are not satisfied with Apple’s response to the antenna issue causing poor reception and dropped calls.”
Apple Is Not Alone
iSuppli noted options for aggravated customers, including the Nokia N8, the HTC EVO 4G, and the Samsung Galaxy S. Indeed, Avi Greengart, an analyst at Current Analysis, said higher-end Android devices are narrowing the smartphone competition gap with Apple.
Even though he considers the Apple iPhone 4 the best phone on the market, Greengart said if customers can’t get an iPhone 4, they may opt for another phone. Then again, other handset makers are also having problems keeping up with demand.
“HTC has also had difficulty keeping some of its high-end Android phones in supply. The Droid Incredible at Verizon Wireless is one example. HTC has simply not been able to make enough of those,” Greengart said. “In fact, HTC has had so much difficulty that they are broadening their supply-chain base for screen technology. Sprint is…