iPhone maker Apple has cut production orders in recent weeks for all three iPhone models launched in September, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.
The above chart prepared by research firm IDC indicates the growth of iPhone in the last five quarters.
A poor demand for the new iPhone models and Apple’s decision to offer more models has made it more difficult to anticipate the number of components and handsets the company needs.
Apple few weeks ago revealed a lower-than-expected sales forecast for the Christmas quarter. This has prompted certain component suppliers to issue warnings that pointed to weakness in new iPhone sales.
Apple has sold 46.889 million iPhones in its latest quarter as compared with 41.3 million in the same quarter previous year. Apple generated $37.18 billion revenue from iPhones alone as compared with $29.906 billion.
The WSJ report indicates that Apple could not create enough demand for its new smartphone models which were launched on 21 September.
But a report by research firm Canalys said that Apple shipped 3.3 million units of the iPhone XS and 4.7 million units of more expensive iPhone XS Max — in 10 days of availability in Q3. China was the largest market for the iPhone XS Max, accounting for 45 percent of its shipments, while the US was its second largest market at 27 percent.
Smartphone shipments fell by 7 percent in Q3 2018, a fourth consecutive quarter of decline, Canalys said. This was also the worst third quarter performance since 2015. China’s smartphone market had another disappointing quarter, only shipping 100.6 million units, a year-on-year decline of 15.2 percent and sequential decline of 2.9 percent.
Canalys said India overtook the US this quarter to be the second largest market, though both countries were hit by weaker seasonal performance compared with last year. Seven of the top 10 markets recorded year-on-year declines, caused by lengthening smartphone replacement cycles and competition from major Chinese vendors.
Baburajan K
