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Accessory makers hit delays as iPhone 6 production eats up Lightning connector supplies

Record shipments of Apple’s new iPhone 6 models unveiled this week might mean more headaches for companies building accessories with Apple’s Lightning connectors. Several sources tell us in the lead up to the launch of the new iPhones this week, Apple has purchased all of the available bulk inventory of Lightning connectors and authentication chips leaving smaller accessory makers in its Made-for-iPhone licensing program stranded.

One manufacturer we spoke with told us that bulk orders of Lightning supplies from Apple’s manufacturing partner Foxconn are being reserved for Apple and its preferred partners, which include some of the larger iPhone accessory makers. Other companies, however, are unsure how they will fulfil current orders for products already on the market, while others have resorted to back channels for Lightning supplies with no luck. Orders placed for the component as far back as June have been delayed and still not delivered, according to one manufacturer. 

When exactly accessory manufacturers will be able to get supplies of the Lightning connector is unknown. Many of the manufacturers we spoke with noted that Apple’s supplier of components for its MFi program would not provide estimates on availability. One manufacturer was quoted a delivery date of no earlier than January 2015.

For consumers, this could be mean delays on Made-for-iPhone products that use the component, especially if Apple continues with record shipments of iPhone 6 and possibly other iOS device launches this fall.

Apple is expecting this year’s iPhone launch to be the fastest roll out yet with its two new iPhone 6 models hitting 115 countries by the end of the year.

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Comments

  1. I work for brand that manufactures and retails accessories. We’re being told 20% delivery of Lightning connectors in 12 weeks and other 80% in 20 weeks.

    • rtroutman17 - 10 years ago

      We’re the same way down here in Brazil, as we are 1 of a few suppliers for a huge demanding market@

    • accessoryguy - 9 years ago

      Are you getting Lightning connectors now, or are you able to order them from Avnet?

  2. herb02135go - 10 years ago

    Kind of ironic how Apple touts accessories, like the watch, then the availability is hampered.

    • PMZanetti - 10 years ago

      Are you a robot? Your comments aren’t even accurate garbage, they are incoherent rambling.

  3. Jake Brennan - 10 years ago

    Here’s a full list of iPhone ship times for US, UK and Canada:

    http://iphone-inventory.blogspot.ca/2014/09/iphone-6-pre-order-tracker.html

  4. accessoryguy - 10 years ago

    We manufacture iOS device accessories, and don’t have any prospect of getting the Lightning parts we need to make product for the holiday season, which is going to cost us a large percentage of our annual sales. Hopefully Apple will reconsider and allocate Lightning parts to the many small manufacturers who depend on these parts to stay in business. Thanks so much for writing this story!

  5. standardpull - 10 years ago

    The fact that component makers can only put out so many components, and that demand exceeds supply means two things:

    Suppliers need to increase their capacity.
    Knockoff suppliers have a huge opportunity.

    If it is true that Apple is putting lots of demands on suppliers, it is for one reason – there is a ton of demand from customers.

  6. Why would accessory makes wait this long to secure authentication chips? Sure, they probably didn’t know specific design of iPhone 6 and 6 Plus (even though there were leaks galore), but they knew there would be a new phone. So why not secure the chips in preparation for designing accessories built to complement the new phones?

    • Jordan Kahn - 10 years ago

      As noted in the story, a lot of these manufacturers have put in orders months ago (June or earlier). Lead time then was supposed to be 12 weeks, but deliveries have still not been made. Most of the manufacturers I spoke with have supplies for the short term, but they are worried about orders for products shipping after their current stock runs out.

  7. Tony Peralta - 10 years ago

    C’mon. Doesn’t Apple hate third party accessories. Why would they share? Why would they product enough if it means sharing the wealth. Why does Apple block third party lightning cables from working on their idevices? Don’t say it doesn’t cause there are threads in Apple’s community forums and Youtube videos talking about the problem. Sometimes, even lightning cables from Apple’s own stores don’t work. Applastic.

  8. accessoryguy - 9 years ago

    The MFi parts shortage is ongoing as of the end of December 2014. We got delivery on some parts but we can’t place any new orders with Avnet. They won’t give us a timeline on when parts will be available. If they do start taking orders, delivery could take months. Jordan – we’d appreciate if you’d look into this situation again. Thanks.

Author

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Jordan Kahn

Jordan writes about all things Apple as Senior Editor of 9to5Mac, & contributes to 9to5Google, 9to5Toys, & Electrek.co. He also co-authors 9to5Mac’s Logic Pros series.