Apple says supply chain safe despite Japanese quake

Apple’s supply chain has held steady despite the devastating earthquake in Japan, the company’s chief operating officer Tim Cook said in today’s earnings conference call.

There had been earlier speculation that the quake would pose supply risks to the iPad 2 in particular, and Cook acknowledged that Apple sources “literally hundreds of items from Japan,” ranging from LCDs to foil. However, after the quake, Apple employees and partners showed “outstanding teamwork and unprecedented resilience,” and they worked together to come up with contingency plans.

As a result, Cook said there were no material impacts to Apple’s supply or costs in the last quarter, and he did not expect there would be any effects in the coming quarter.

“We do need to caution everyone that the situation remains unpredictable,” he said.

Cook added that the quake will result in $200 million less revenue for Apple in the coming quarter, and, lest you think that he’s just interested in the effect on Apple’s bottom line, he said the team’s “heart goes out” to the Japanese and that the quake’s economic impact “pales in comparison to the human impact.”