Apple Allegedly Cuts iPhone Production Again

AlphaAtlas

[H]ard|Gawd
Staff member
Joined
Mar 3, 2018
Messages
1,713
The Wall Street Journal claims that Apple is cutting back iPhone production across the board. "People familiar with the situation" say that the iPhone XR was hit particularly hard, mirroring a report by Nikkei Asian Review earlier this month. But according to the WSJ's sources, Apple cut production for the iPhone XR again last week, and production orders for all three new models were cut in "recent weeks." Apparently, Apple's inclusion of older models and their increasing prices are making it harder for their producers to predict supply, which is severely impacting their business.

Last year, many suppliers were hurt by Apple's excessively optimistic initial production forecast for the iPhone X, which it then slashed by some 20 million units for the first three months of 2018. "Doing business with Apple is very risky as it often reverses what it has promised," said an executive with a supplier. Supplier frustrations have been compounded by the lack of growth in iPhone unit sales in recent years. Since peaking in fiscal 2015, the number of iPhones sold annually has fallen 6% to 217.7 million units. While making components for 200-million plus iPhones is still tremendous business for suppliers, most relied on the growth in iPhones sold to increase their profits. Apple tightly controls margins and asks many suppliers to make big investments in specialized machinery to make its products, suppliers say. "Growth fixes a lot of sins," the executive at an Apple supplier said. "When it slows, rocks start to show up in the bottom of the ocean."
 
Overall lack of innovation, massive price inflation, and downward pressure on discretionary income are all coming together to screw the consumer electronics market. I'm guessing many other phone mfgs are facing a similar situation.

almost $1000 for a pixel, really? $1000 for in iPhone, and it doesn't come with a dongle or fast charger? Prices are insane on these flagship phones.
 
Imagine that, the appetite for $1200 phones that feature an incremental change may not be as large as people expected? Apple's last generation phones were/are fantastic; My iPhone X is without a doubt the best phone I have owned and I see zero need to upgrade. I also have an 8plus from my employer and it too is rock solid but a bit larger and not as pocket friendly as the X. I'll be sporting the X for at least another year.
 
Guess they got a little too greedy on the new prices.
Just surprised it took this long for people to start resisting the high prices.
 
This same story comes out every year, and each time Apple proves the speculation wrong. This ia a Short spreading rumors.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DocNo
like this
This same story comes out every year, and each time Apple proves the speculation wrong. This ia a Short spreading rumors.

Not so sure about that this go around.

- Way more expensive phones, and larger
- Market saturation (even in poorer markets)
- Stiff competition from wholesale markets (Huawei)

All these factors didn't really exist to the extent they are now. It very likely could be a PR scare tactic to get suppliers to play ball with them better but I think they actually have struggles. ipad, iphone, iwatch, imac are all stale. MabBook's I think are their only consistent seller no matter how little it progresses tech wise (or progresses backwards with the glue in place nonsense of the hardware).
 
  • Like
Reactions: N4CR
like this
For most people spending $1000 on a phone every other year to be on the razor's edge doesn't make sense.
I can blow 300 to 500 every couple of years, but 1000 to 1200? No thanks, you can keep your phone and all the apps that go with it.
These days there are better options for me.
I can make do with a 200 Android.
 
Phones like Oneplus do 'kinda' prove that paying over 1k is madness.
Sure the O6T has its issues, however if you aren't camera focused, you kinda can't beat it
Outside of that, the used market is great for phones also.

This 1k and over lark needs to stop
 
Could it be that this year's iPhone is too expensive? Being an iPhone user myself I still have to smile at Apple's grief.
 
prices phones more than what the average buyer can reasonably afford
confused why they aren't selling as many
 
I'll never use their facial recognition or even the fingerprint reader... from a legal perspective, it's a huge liability.
 
Smartphones are a mature, saturated market at this point similar to the PC market. Phones are good enough for what most people do with them. They no longer improve by leaps and bounds with each new release the way they did back in like 2009 or 2010. Apple is selling extremely expensive phones at a time when most people who want a smartphone probably have one they are pretty happy with.
 
Smartphones are a mature, saturated market at this point similar to the PC market. Phones are good enough for what most people do with them. They no longer improve by leaps and bounds with each new release the way they did back in like 2009 or 2010. Apple is selling extremely expensive phones at a time when most people who want a smartphone probably have one they are pretty happy with.


Could it be that this year's iPhone is too expensive? Being an iPhone user myself I still have to smile at Apple's grief.

Both of these honestly.
I'm quite happy with my phone. I would like to upgrade because "new toy", but I am not going to do so when the only options are $1000+

I've been in the iOS ecosystem since more-or-less the iPhone 3GS, mainly by inertia, but the day is coming I think when an AndroidOne might be in my future.
 
Imagine that, the appetite for $1200 phones that feature an incremental change may not be as large as people expected? Apple's last generation phones were/are fantastic; My iPhone X is without a doubt the best phone I have owned and I see zero need to upgrade. I also have an 8plus from my employer and it too is rock solid but a bit larger and not as pocket friendly as the X. I'll be sporting the X for at least another year.

Your phone is a year old. I don't think they expected a lot of people in your demographic to upgrade. I went from a 6 to an XS. I think they expected a lot of people like me to upgrade. The question is how wrong are they about that?
 
The $1000+ phones are over priced. I will not buy one and suspect we will see Apple release something like the iPhone SE in the future - they still make profit off the hardware and get money from the app store/iCloud/etc. I think the price point will be $499 when we see something like this again. (What about markets like China and India - can't imagine they super-expensive phones are selling well in those countries)

I own Apple stock and have made a lot of money off of it since I bought it. I sold off some a few years ago and covered my purchase price. I'm playing with the dealer's money right now. However, I still want the price to go up and not lose ground. If Apple loses iPhone sales, that kills their company since roughly 70% of their revenue is from these devices. I'll admit I'm scratching my head over their latest moves...even the Mac Mini is bumped up. It used to be a $499 option. Now it starts at $799.
 
not sure how much longer i can hold aapl stock.

aapl has a ton of fuckyou money, so they should be able to pay the best people to come up with the best products.
 
Overall lack of innovation, massive price inflation, and downward pressure on discretionary income are all coming together to screw the consumer electronics market. I'm guessing many other phone mfgs are facing a similar situation.

almost $1000 for a pixel, really? $1000 for in iPhone, and it doesn't come with a dongle or fast charger? Prices are insane on these flagship phones.
Lack of innovation? Seriously? They got rid of the phone jack! That is not good enough? :)
 
Is their margin that bad that they can't drop the price?

You are talking about a company that stripped a standard feature out of a phone and sold it back to its consumer base as an optional accessory.

It's not whether or not they could, it's whether or not they want to.
 
The $1000+ phones are over priced. I will not buy one and suspect we will see Apple release something like the iPhone SE in the future - they still make profit off the hardware and get money from the app store/iCloud/etc. I think the price point will be $499 when we see something like this again. (What about markets like China and India - can't imagine they super-expensive phones are selling well in those countries)

I own Apple stock and have made a lot of money off of it since I bought it. I sold off some a few years ago and covered my purchase price. I'm playing with the dealer's money right now. However, I still want the price to go up and not lose ground. If Apple loses iPhone sales, that kills their company since roughly 70% of their revenue is from these devices. I'll admit I'm scratching my head over their latest moves...even the Mac Mini is bumped up. It used to be a $499 option. Now it starts at $799.
I don't think that 70% number is accurate. For years the (investors) discussion has been Apple moving from device sales to services for its main revenue stream. When reporters talk about revenue coming from iPhones they're usually referring to profit margins vis-a-vis other mainstream device manufacturers or the app store--not necessarily the device sale itself.
 
Back
Top