Ahead of the November 3 shipping date of the iPhone X, the first batch of iPhone X units have shipped out of China, according to China's state run news agency Xinhua. Even as it appears that Apple is in line to begin delivering this year's flagship iPhone X units on time, it appears the company is still struggling to solve the production issues.
The company has only shipped 46,500 iPhone X units out of China in the first batch, the agency reported. According to earlier reports, Apple is facing production issues with certain components of the iPhone X. Reports suggest that Apple supply partners are facing difficulties producing iPhone X's TrueDepth 3D camera system, reportedly they are building less than 10,000 units a day.
There are enough signals pointing out to a 'soft availability' of the iPhone X during the week of November 3, and possibly throughout the rest of the year. It has been estimated that Apple is at present producing about 400,000 iPhone X units per week, Asian news agency Nikkei said.
If Apple is unable to supply enough iPhone X units, it risks upsetting many customers who have been understandably waiting for the top-of-the-line iPhone X. However, it appears that many of them have already settled with the iPhone 8 or iPhone 8 Plus,or possibly an older iPhone model.
According to KGI Securities, the iPhone 8's sales has exceeded expectations. Another report said that the last year's iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus models are selling faster than the current generation iPhone models.
It will be interesting to see how things bottom out when the iPhone X goes on sale early next month.
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