‘Staggering’ iphone Demand Helped Two of Apple’s Biggest Supply Chain Partners

As reported in the Wall Street Journal,  Apple Inc. surpassed even the most bullish Wall Street expectations for its holiday quarter with an improbable trifecta: selling more iPhones at higher prices - and earning more on each sale.

The Cupertino, Calif., company said it sold 74.5 million iPhones in the quarter, 46% above a year earlier, while lifting the average selling price of the devices by $50 from the prior year. The total equates to more than 34,000 phones an hour, around the clock.

“Demand for iPhone was staggering,” Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook told analysts. “This volume is hard to comprehend.”

Results were remarkable, even for a company that has increased revenue more than tenfold in the past decade.

They recalled the Steve Jobs heyday when iPhone demand routinely topped forecasts. In some ways, the gains are more impressive because Apple today faces many more competitors and because smartphone growth is thought to be slowing.

Apple Supply Chain Partners
TSMC announced December revenues of NT$69.51 billion ($2.17 bllion), while Hon Hai - colloquially known as Foxconn - brought in NT$515.57 billion ($16.24 billion) over the same period.

That represents a nearly 40 percent year-over-year increase for TSMC and a more modest 5 percent bump for Foxconn.

Both firms are significantly invested in Apple’s iPhone line and benefitted from blockbuster holiday sales of the popular handsets. One analysis suggests that Apple may have sold as many as 69 million iPhones in the December quarter, a year-over-year sales jump of more than 18 million units.

This despite serious constraints on iPhone 6 supply that lasted through Christmas. Apple retail outlets in the U.S. only began listing the devices as ‘in stock’ with no lead time last week.

Though TSMC has won smaller Apple orders in the past, 2014 marked the first year in which the Taiwanese company was chosen to fabricate Apple’s A-series application processors. The latest A8 chip sits at the heart of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, while the iPad Air 2 boasts a slightly beefier A8X.

Foxconn, meanwhile, has a hand in assembling nearly every SKU in Apple’s product lineup. The company is believed to have as many as 500,000 workers dedicated to its iPhone lines alone, and is reportedly investing some $2.6 billion into a new display factory that will exclusively serve Apple’s business.

Related: How Apple Has the Power to Make or Break a Supply Chain Supplier