Tim Cook has revealed Apple might not meet demand for the iPhone 7 Plus by the end of the year, during an investor call to discuss fourth-quarter earnings.
The company is hoping for a return to growth following declining sales year-over-year in several quarters this past year.
But it seems there could be some issues with fulfilling all iPhone 7 Plus orders, with Cook, when asked about iPhone 7 Plus production meeting demand, saying (via TechCrunch): "It’s hard to say. I believe that on iPhone 7 we will, on iPhone 7 Plus I’m not sure.
"I wouldn’t say yes at this point because the underlying demand looks extremely strong on both products but particularly on the iPhone 7 Plus vs our forecast going into the product launch."
It looks like Apple is somewhat on track at the moment then, but there are already delays when it comes to iPhone 7 Plus shipping, with some customers having to wait several weeks for their handsets.
Cook was unable to say whether demand will be met based on the current situation. "It’s very hard to gauge demand when you’re selling everything you’re making," he added.
"So we’ll find out more through the quarter but we’re confident enough to give you guys guidance that we’re returning to growth this quarter, which obviously feels very good for us."
Apple faces an increasing amount of competition in the smartphone market, which has undoubtedly contributed to the declining sales.
But there is a big opportunity for the company to capitalise on the failure of the Note 7, which is no longer being produced by Samsung following the overheating debacle.
Apple CFO Luca Maestri said: “We are supply constrained on 7 and 7 Plus, when you talk about other competitors it’s not particularly relevant to us right now because we are selling everything we can produce.
"When we look at all these things in its totality, we think for the total company, we believe revenue is gonna grow. We don’t get into specific product from a unit standpoint giving guidance. We feel very confident for the trajectory of iPhone going forward.”