A new supply chain report has gone negative on the prospects of Apple's new MacBook Air being successful. It's not based on fact but rather fear and discontent. If you leap towards the end of the report first, you're able to see where the negativity is coming from loud and clear.

According to the Digitimes report, "As Apple has decided to retrieve materials procurement rights from supply chain partners since mid-2018, the partners have seen their profit margins drop significantly as they can only earn contract production fees. Nevertheless, partners still have to rely on massive orders from Apple to bolster their capacity utilization rates."

This is the reason for the negativity. It's a way of making a case against Apple for squeezing their supply chain to the point where unless an Apple product is an absolute smash hit, suppliers are going to lose money. And with lower priced Windows based notebooks on the market, Apple's supply chain sees pain ahead, a lot pain. Lashing out at Apple is their only recourse.

The report adds that "Supply chain partners are taking a wait-and-see attitude toward whether the higher-than-expected pricing for new MacBook Air models will affect its sales performance.

Apple statistics indicate that sales of MacBook Air fell under 19 million units in 2017 from a high of over 20 million units in 2015. In the first half of 2018, sales reached 7.8 million units, and whether the annual shipments for 2018 can reach the 2017 level seems a hard nut for Apple to crack, industry sources said."

It's an odd fear that the supply chain has considering the new MacBook Air actually delivers a decent price. In TechRadar's initial review of the new MacBook Air, they stated that "the MacBook Air 2018 price makes this technically Apple's most affordable laptop."

TechRadar added: "To some, that's going to be a great price compared to the costlier 12-inch MacBook and the top-tier MacBook Pro."

The supply chain myopically focuses on price alone and not on device-value or more importantly brand-value that is important to Americans, Canadians and some European countries. Apple customers love Apple products and to them the price is just fine for what the MacBook Air is delivering.

Instead of cheering on the MacBook Air in the press which would be good for business, Apple's supply chain has decided to spread fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) which is usually a tactic reserved for Apple's enemies.