A supply chain report says that M2 chip production was completely halted during January and February due to limited demand for M2-powered Macs. This is believed to be the first time that Apple has ever suspended chip production for current-gen products.
Production resumed in March, but is reportedly at half the level of M1 chip production in the same period last year …
Apple announced the M2, M2 Pro, and M2 Max chips in January, available in new MacBook Pro and Mac mini models.
The Elec reports the two-month hiatus in production. While Apple chipmaker TSMC is of course tight-lipped about production, the site was able to track production through other Apple suppliers who perform follow-up work on the chips before they are sent on to Mac assembly companies.
Amcona, which does packaging work on the chips, was particularly badly hit, as it lost orders for the two months, and was unable to do anything else with the spare capacity.
This was supported by checking production of materials used in the production of M2 chips.
A rough time for Mac
This ties in with Apple’s Q1 earnings, which saw Mac revenue fall 28,6% from the final quarter of 2021, to the same quarter last year. Apple CEO Tim Cook commented at the time on the “difficult” situation.
But to completely halt M2 chip production for two months does suggest that demand was significantly lower than Apple had anticipated.
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