Supply-chain issues are expected to continue into at least next year.
And, as evidence of that, we seem to be bringing you stories every week about the reasons why that is the case.
This week’s headline comes from Shenzhen, China where Foxconn is headquartered. You might have heard of them before because they’re a major supplier to Apple among others. Well, their factory there just got shut down because of a major COVID-19 outbreak, Reuters reports, likely exacerbating supply-chain issues in a range of products.
To give us some scope of how much of a complication such a shutdown can cause down the line, Victure Industrial Co., Ltd’s Paul Weedman told the news agency, “Imagine you have a factory of 100 people and all of a sudden you can’t do anything – you can’t fulfil your existing orders, you can’t accept new orders. The impact is not 2 or 3 weeks, but 3-6 months.”
Complicating matters is the issue of rising prices which tends to happen when you have stable or rising demand and falling or unreliable supply. We’ve already seen several companies cancel products and even delay the actual shipment of new models until later in the year. It’s a novel situation, to be sure, but one that some analysts think is needed as camera manufacturers double down on what works and get rid of the rest. Of course, none of this is really taking into account the current situation in Ukraine and what impact that could have on the global economy, not just the supply of electronic component parts.
Have you experienced any delays in receiving electronics or camera products because of COVID-19? Let us know your story in the comments below.
We have some more photography news on Light Stalking at this link right here.
[Reuters]
