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Apple will defer the volume production of its new budget-type MacBook Air for 2018 to the second half of the year from the originally-scheduled second quarter, supply chain sources have disclosed, adding that they would suffer from high material inventories and low capacity utilization before Apple starts to take shipments probably in the third quarter.

The sources said that Apple has informed supply chain partners that mass production of its new notebook model for 2018 will not kick off until the second half of the year, yet without explaining the rescheduling move. Some partners speculated that the postponement might be caused by problems with some key components such as processors.

The planned new MacBook Air will have a slim design, and come with Retina high-resolution screen and Intel's latest notebook processor. Unit price for the new model is expected to be lowered from US$999 to US$899 or down further to US$799, which in turn may push up sales of MacBook series by over 10% in 2018 to regain part of market shares held by Chromebooks, according to market observers.

They said as new iPhones are also slated for volume production starting in the third quarter, downstream EMS plants in China may be forced to compete fiercely in sourcing sufficient production workforce in the quarter to support production of the new iPhone and MacBook Air devices.

Some MacBook Air supply chain players who have readied full inventories of materials to support second-quarter production will face low capacity utilization before starting to deliver shipments in the third quarter, the sources said.

Some industry observers said that Apple has reportedly deferred volume production of several product lines including iPhone, HomePod and MacBook Air, probably due to the company adjusting its marketing strategies in accordance with different market conditions.