Asian Tech Press (Oct 14) -- Apple Inc. may cut its iPhone 13 production target by up to 10 million units this year, sources close to the matter have said, due to an ongoing chip shortage, suggesting it has become the latest victim of a supply chain crisis.

Citing sources, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that Apple, which was scheduled to produce 90 million new iPhones in the last three months of the year, has told production partners it may cut its production target because of a shortage of parts supplied by the U.S. semiconductor producer Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) and Texas Instruments Inc. (TXN).

Apple gets its display parts from Texas Instruments, and Broadcom is its long-time supplier of wireless components. Other suppliers are also undersupplying components. Representatives from Apple and Texas Instruments would not comment, and Broadcom did not respond.

The shortage of parts has diminished Apple's ability to deliver the new models to customers, Taiwan's largest financial newspaper Economic Daily News reported Thursday. iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max were launched in September, but it took Apple about a month to deliver them after consumers placed orders on on Apple's official website.

Apple is one of the world's largest buyers of chips, but the incident shows that despite its buying power, Apple is still suffering from a broken supply chain. Major chip makers have warned that demand for chips will continue to outstrip supply next year, and that it could even stretch out longer.

According to Bloomberg, the signs are that the chip crisis is worsening, with Susquehanna Financial Group data showing that the lead time for semiconductor buyers, the gap between ordering a chip and delivery, lengthened to an average of 21.7 weeks in September, five days longer than in August and up for the ninth month in a row, also the longest one since data began tracking in 2017.