, Columnist
How to Survive an iPhone Disaster
Apple stunned Dialog Semiconductor with plans to make its own power-management chips. That hasn’t been the end of the world.
Double-edged device.
Photographer: David Paul Morris/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Apple Inc.’s suppliers have walked a tightrope for a long time.
They try very hard to get their products into the iPhone because it can mean a massive increase in sales. But they must proceed with care, as doing so risks yoking their business to the whims of the Silicon Valley giant’s famously capricious supply chain operations. When iPhone sales stutter, Apple reacts by trying to squeeze even lower prices out of suppliers. Worse, it starts to make the components itself.