There are likely no industries that haven't been impacted by the precarious state of the global economy these days. The tech industry is among the ones highly impacted. As customers' ability to spend money has reduced, so has demand for new devices, particularly premium products.
Apple is reportedly witnessing a reduction in demand for its MacBook laptops, so much so that it's claimed that the company has stopped production of the M2 chips that are used for its latest laptops.
Samsung's OLED panel shipments for MacBooks could take a hit
Korean media is reporting that Apple had completely stopped producing the M2 series chipsets for MacBooks in January and February this year. Production was partially restarted last month but at levels almost half of those from last year.
This is the first time that Apple has reportedly stopped the production of chips for current-generation MacBooks. Industry watchers highlight this as a sign that the slump in demand for PCs is much more significant than previously anticipated.
This hasn't come as a surprise to Apple. The company's CEO mentioned during a recent earnings call that the PC market is in a very “challenging situation,” and that it will remain “difficult in the short term.” Apple's revenue from the Mac business was $7.7 billion in the first quarter of this year. While that's a significant number, it's down 30% compared to the same period last year.
The demand contraction may force Apple to rethink its plans for new MacBook models in the coming months, particularly the OLED MacBook Air models that Samsung is thought to be supplying the displays for. If Apple decides to either not launch the model altogether or to produce fewer numbers, as one of the leading supplies of display panels, Samsung stands to lose money either way.
