Rob. S. 1,660 Posted March 14, 2023 Share Posted March 14, 2023 (edited) The global supply chains, especially for tech products, have been disrupted for years. How is it today? We have traced the path of a smartphone and show where delays still occur. [...] If the device is already manufactured, as in this case, the retailer can be happy about this. His supplier in the manufacturing metropolis of Shenzhen in southern China has the product in stock and only has to send it to Europe. Both sides have known for a long time: "Only" has been extremely relativized in the past three years. Because a lot has come together. Not only was there the impact of the initially unknown coronavirus, which forced lockdowns around the world, with ports suffering from staff shortage, unable to unload ships. There were also fires in semiconductor factories in East Asia, and hot summers caused water shortages, which slowed down chip production. The effects of such incidents are fatal, especially for various tech products whose value chain is highly globalized. "Of course, lots of cargo stays put," a manager at the Port of Hamburg explained to us at the end of 2022. "If you take the car handling: We have a shortage of semiconductors. Ports were used as storage areas to park the unfinished cars for the time being." This also jams up the clearance of other goods. Where's our smartphone? To make matters worse, Russia's attack on Ukraine a year ago led not only to trade distortions but also to confusion. "Cargoes were left at customs, where you had to think: is this sanctioned?" While most questions about the implications of the sanctions have now been clarified, the effects are still lingering. "We still have to deal with the pandemic and finance the crisis in Ukraine," explains the Hamburg port manager. There are also staff shortages and loss of income [...] Just an excerpt from https://www.golem.de/news/lieferschwierigkeiten-smartphone-bestellt-und-das-warten-beginnt-2303-172307.html. They didn't say what phone they ordered, but it will hardly have been from a manufacturer as tiny as Fxtec. Edited March 14, 2023 by Rob. S. 1 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
claude0001 1,340 Posted March 15, 2023 Share Posted March 15, 2023 (edited) For completeness, one should mention that this news story is about a phone that was ordered on 11 November 2022 and delivered on 31 January 2023. I.e. the customer had her device in hand 2.5 months after placing the order, inspite of Christmas, CoViD, and war standing in the way. In my view, this rather illustrates that international commerce, against all odds, is indeed working. The delays F(x)tec and their customers are facing are of a different order of magnitude and probably caused by other (additional) factors. Edited March 15, 2023 by claude0001 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rob. S. 1,660 Posted March 15, 2023 Author Share Posted March 15, 2023 16 minutes ago, claude0001 said: The delays F(x)tec and their customers are facing are of a different order of magnitude and probably caused by other (additional) factors. Absolutely; the article just shows that even if everything else, like in manufacturing, goes as planned, and the manufacturer does not suffer from things like liquidity problems due to earlier obstacles, a simple delivery can take 2½ months. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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