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Yep, Apple's operations and logistics are second to none in this industry. Watching AMD, NVIDIA, Sony, Microsoft and others struggling so much manufacturing th

by DRW_ 6y ago

Yep, Apple's operations and logistics are second to none in this industry. Watching AMD, NVIDIA, Sony, Microsoft and others struggling so much manufacturing their products, and then having Apple launch: - 2 new Apple Watches - 4 new iPhones - 3 new Macs - Airpods Max - Homepod Mini All with Apple's own custom designed chips, even relying on the same chip fabs as those other companies, and still managing to mostly avoid the huge shortages that those others have faced is impressive. It's probably a combination of their operations, logistics, supply networks - their predictable yearly cycles that allows them to plan out further in advance, having higher margin products that allows them to outbid the competition for capacity, etc, etc... But as someone who did the fight for the new AMD CPUs, NVIDIA GPUs, been on the look out for the new Sony console, and bought a new iPhone, Apple Watch & Homepod mini on release - the Apple experience was such a breeze in comparison. It may seem like an odd thing to be impressed by, but with how much everyone else has been struggling - for it to appear to relatively easy for Apple is notable.

GloriousKoji 6y ago
> All with Apple's own custom designed chips, even relying on the same chip fabs as those other companies, and still managing to mostly avoid the huge shortages that those others have faced is impressive. I would not be surprised if the other companies are having shortages because of Apple taking up most of the fab capacity and support engineers.
- whoisjuan 6y ago
  Both Apple and Huawei have been stockpiling on silicon wafers for months. The silicon shortage is becoming real.
- ksec 6y ago
  >I would not be surprised if the other companies are having shortages because of Apple taking up most of the fab capacity and support engineers. The whole reason why Apple got the advantage and others dont is merely because Apple is willing put down payment, contract obligation and guarantee over number of years. And their volume will dictate how TSMC plan their capacity. Unless other company are willing to place some sort of bet that they will at least buy x millions on x node within the x years. It is not TSMC's duty to second guess everyone of their customers volume and take the risk of empty Fabs with redundant capacity. Fabs are meant to run at near constant Full Capacity. Most so called Supply Chain expert and professionals are being taught JIT without really understanding the purpose of JIT. I dont like the product and strategy direction of Tim Cook, but he is absolutely a genius in Supply Chain and Operation Management. Edit: And it just so happens there is a news story on JIT from Toyota https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26151072 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26151072 And after the Qualcomm and Samsung 4G/5G settlement it seems Qualcomm will try to use Samsung Foundry whenever possible. So it should mean more room at TSMC next year.
  - rangibaby 6y ago
    Toyota had a lot of trouble after the 2011 earthquake, I'm sure their decision to keep inventory is related to that

by DRW_ 6y ago

GloriousKoji 6y ago

> All with Apple's own custom designed chips, even relying on the same chip fabs as those other companies, and still managing to mostly avoid the huge shortages that those others have faced is impressive. I would not be surprised if the other companies are having shortages because of Apple taking up most of the fab capacity and support engineers.

whoisjuan 6y ago
Both Apple and Huawei have been stockpiling on silicon wafers for months. The silicon shortage is becoming real.
ksec 6y ago
>I would not be surprised if the other companies are having shortages because of Apple taking up most of the fab capacity and support engineers. The whole reason why Apple got the advantage and others dont is merely because Apple is willing put down payment, contract obligation and guarantee over number of years. And their volume will dictate how TSMC plan their capacity. Unless other company are willing to place some sort of bet that they will at least buy x millions on x node within the x years. It is not TSMC's duty to second guess everyone of their customers volume and take the risk of empty Fabs with redundant capacity. Fabs are meant to run at near constant Full Capacity. Most so called Supply Chain expert and professionals are being taught JIT without really understanding the purpose of JIT. I dont like the product and strategy direction of Tim Cook, but he is absolutely a genius in Supply Chain and Operation Management. Edit: And it just so happens there is a news story on JIT from Toyota https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26151072 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26151072 And after the Qualcomm and Samsung 4G/5G settlement it seems Qualcomm will try to use Samsung Foundry whenever possible. So it should mean more room at TSMC next year.
- rangibaby 6y ago
  Toyota had a lot of trouble after the 2011 earthquake, I'm sure their decision to keep inventory is related to that