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A chip shortage continues to wrack the globe — and it's finally coming for the iPhone.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said on an earnings call Tuesday that silicon "supply constraints" will start affecting iPhone sales in the coming months.
A worldwide shortage of semiconductors had already been delaying production of the company's MacBooks and iPad, Cook said in April. However, he told CNBC Tuesday that the firm was able to "mitigate some of" the estimated $3 to $4 billion in expected costs related to the shortage.
But Cook's comments on the call confirm that the crisis will start biting into iPhone production.
The news comes as Apple saw surging iPhone sales in its fiscal 2021 third quarter. Growth was up 50% from this time last year, and Cook said the spike was in part due to Android customers buying iPhones for the first time. Other drivers included continued demand for the company's iPhone 12 lineup, which it debuted last fall.
Wall Street estimated earlier this year that Apple would deliver 220 million iPhone units throughout 2021. But it's unclear if that number could be impacted by the constraints Cook spoke of.
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