Kuo Says Apple Cut Some Shipments Over Memory Shortages, but No Major TSMC Inventory Pileup Emerged
Ming-Chi Kuo, a prominent analyst at TF International Securities, said Apple has indeed reduced some hardware shipment plans this year because of memory shortages. He said that does not mean the supply chain has been forced into a situation where products are made first and materials arrive later. Based on his industry research, Kuo said there was no scenario in which TSMC first accumulated $1 billion worth of processor work-in-process inventory and then waited for memory to become available before packaging the chips. Kuo said TSMC and Apple are both among the world's top companies in supply-chain execution and have maintained close coordination over the long term. Under that supply-chain management system, he said, a passive buildup of such a large amount of semi-finished inventory is uncommon.
Based on his industry research, Kuo said there was no scenario in which TSMC first accumulated $1 billion worth of processor work-in-process inventory and then waited for memory to become available before packaging the chips.
Kuo said TSMC and Apple are both among the world's top companies in supply-chain execution and have maintained close coordination over the long term. Under that supply-chain management system, he said, a passive buildup of such a large amount of semi-finished inventory is uncommon.