Apple's iPhone 12 has been receiving really positive feedback from the way it looks, to its performance and the cameras at the back.
This has led to a rise in demand for the smartphones, and to deal with it,?Apple has decided to ramp up its manufacturing capacity in the coming year.
Reported first by Nikkei, Apple plans to manufacture up to 96 million iPhones in the first half of 2021. To put this into perspective, this is around a 30 percent increase year over year.
An executive at a key Apple supplier told Nikkei, "The planned production for the next quarter and the following quarter have been decided and the outlook is quite bright. The iPhone 12 Pro, and iPhone 12 Pro Max are especially stronger than we estimated, while the demand for iPhone 12 is in line with the forecast, but iPhone 12 mini is a bit sluggish."
Apple has asked to manufacture not just the newly launched iPhone 12s, but also the hot selling iPhone 11 and the iPhone SE, that was unveiled this year amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
While the target is to manufacture around 95 to 96 million devices, the goal is threatened due to shortage/unavailability of key parts to make the devices in time.
This is also a 20 percent rise since the year 2019, although the target will be reviewed and revised at regular intervals and be changed depending on supply and demand, sources familiar with the matter revealed.
A tentative full-year forecast shared by Apple with its contract manufacturers has revealed that it plans to make up to 230 million iPhones next year, which will not just include the iPhone 11s and the iPhone 12s, but also the upcoming iPhone 13.
Apple currently sits at the fourth position with 11.1 percent market share in terms of global smartphone shipments with Samsung claiming the top spot with a 22 percent market share. Huawei claims the second spot with 14.1 percent and Xiaomi at 12.1 percent.