Heatwave in China May Hamper iPad Production

16 AUGUST 2022 - You know what people don’t say as much anymore? “Is it hot enough for you?” It used to just be an inane thing we said. Now it leads to existential questions around mortality and - it turns out - whether we can have new iPads.

Not kidding.

Cult of Mac highlights a Reuters report and a couple of Twitter posts from TF International analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. First, let’s make like R.E.M. and talk about the weather. Less like R.E.M. - let’s talk about the weather in China. Quoting the Cult, which also quotes Reuters:

Temperatures over 105 degrees [F] have caused increased demand for A/C. At the same time, a drought has reduced hydroelectric power generation. “Industrial users across 19 out of 21 cities in the [Sichuan] province were ordered to suspend production from Aug. 15 until Aug. 20 to prioritise residential power supply…”

According to the first of Ming-Chi Kuo’s posts:

A temporary power outage in Sichuan may affect iPad assembly plants in Chengdu (Foxconn) and Chongqing (Compal). Although it's difficult to assess impacts on production currently, impacts should be limited if the power outage can end on August 20.

Boy, “If” is doing a lot of lifting there, huh? Ming-Chi Kuo thinks so. In his second of two Twitter posts the analyst said:

…flexible production scheduling by assemblers should also help lower the impact of power outages. However, need to pay attention to whether similar incidents will occur again in the next few months and affect Apple's new product shipments during the peak season.

‘cause right? New iPhones and new iPads. Cult of Mac says folks are expecting a couple of new iPad models this fall. The piece says production problems in the Middle Kingdom are not likely to delay any tablet announcements, though supply may be tight… which is so unusual these days…