Apple couldn’t dodge chip pain forever

For a company that generates more than 80% of its revenue selling gadgets packed with chips, Apple sure has managed to sell a lot of them.

Apple’s fiscal second-quarter results Wednesday afternoon would be remarkable even if not for a global semiconductor production shortage that has hindered other industries like autos. Revenue surged 54% year over year to mark the company’s best growth rate in nine years. iPhone revenue jumped 66% to $47.9 billion while the smaller iPad and Mac businesses notched even higher growth rates.

Easy comparisons were a big help; the original coronavirus outbreak in China hobbled Apple’s manufacturing and sales in that country beginning last January, making Apple the first among its big tech peers to feel the pandemic’s impact directly.