Apple supplier bails in supporting cargo-cult

Jobs’ Mob in shock after someone turns down an offer they could not refuse.

The fruity tax-dodging cargo-cult Apple is in shock after one of its suppliers walked away from its custom.

The Tame Apple press claimed that the unknown Taiwanese company got cold feet in the last-minute due to troubles with scaling production with the required quality by Apple. However, really it could be for any reason.  The lawyers might have seen the small print in the contract and discovered that in the event of the iPhone 8 failing to sell they would have to sell all their grandchildren for medical experiments.

According to the Korean business press, Apple was trying to corner suppliers who make rigid-flexible printed circuit boards (RFPCB) needed for the upcoming OLED iPhone 8. Samsung placed an order for 70 million FPCBs with two of its suppliers, ready to ship them to the factory in Vietnam where they were likely to be used for connecting the OLED panels destined for Apple’s iPhone 8.

Just to make sure, Apple has secured a third supplier from Taiwan as well and it was this one that realised that Apple was probably not worth it.

After the Taiwanese bailed out, Apple started buying the expensive equipment for the boards itself to give to the two Korean companies left in the game, and cover any shortages that may arise in the supply chain.

The machines are worth tens of millions, and Apple will lease them to Samsung Display’s suppliers that are tasked with making the RFPCB, which are trickier to produce than the conventional ones.

The iPhone 8’s OLED panel and its cutout may end up costing $ 70 apiece, which is almost double the iPhone 7 panel, and this might explain the rumored $ 1000 starting price for Apple’s anniversary edition flagship. After all if something costs $ 70 then Apple has to multiply that by 100 times to get its final value in the finished product.

These unforeseen troubles, however, are what may be leading to the rumoured bottleneck in the iPhone 8 availability, at least in the first weeks after release.