Tim Cook says supply constraints cost Apple $6 billion during Q4 2021

Apple today reported earnings for fiscal Q4 2021, with revenue increasing 29% year-over-year to a new September quarter record of $83.4 billion. Nonetheless, this was below analyst expectations, and AAPL stock is down nearly 5% in after-hours trading. In an interview with CNBC, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that supply chain shortages cost Apple around $6 billion in the quarter…

In the interview, Cook explained that Apple faced “larger than expected supply constraints” during the quarter:

“We had a very strong performance despite larger than expected supply constraints, which we estimate to be around $6 billion,” Cook told CNBC’s Josh Lipton. “The supply constraints were driven by the industry wide chip shortages that have been talked about a lot, and COVID-related manufacturing disruptions in Southeast Asia.” 

Cook said that the supply issues were with chips were on “legacy nodes,” or older chips, instead of the technologically advanced processors at the heart of Apple’s devices.  

Apple is not providing any official guidance for Q1 2022 (the ever-important holiday quarter) due to uncertainty caused by the manufacturing disruptions and COVID-19 pandemic. Nonetheless, Cook said that Apple expects “solid year-over-year revenue growth.”

Cook also added that Apple now has 745 million paid subscriptions, including its own first-party subscription services as well as third-parties billed through the App Store. “That’s up 160 million year on year, which is up five times in five years. So it’s been quite the growth cycle,” Cook touted.

As CNBC notes, it’s rare for Apple to miss earnings estimates. This marks the first time since April 2016 that “Apple has failed to beat earnings estimates, and it’s the first time since May 2017 that Apple’s revenues have missed estimates.”