According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple has cut component orders for the iPhone 5 due to disappointing demand. The reports is attributed to "people familiar with the situation."
The story asserts that Apple's orders for iPhone 5 screens for the March quarter are about half what the company had previously planned. One obvious reason for the softer iPhone 5 demand: huge demand for Samsung phones, and a growing interest overall in Android phones with extra-big screens. IDC notes that Apple in Q3 accounted for 14.6% of worldwide smartphone shipments, from form a peak of 23% in Q4 2011 and Q1 2012. Samsung's share reached 31.3% in Q3, up from 8.8% two years earlier.
While the iPhone 5 has a 4 inch screen, up from the 3.5-inch display used in earlier models, some Samsung models have screens larger than 5 inches; Huawei showed off a phone at CES last week that topped 6 inches.
Meanwhile, there is growing speculation that Apple could unveil an upgraded phone - the iPhone 5s, perhaps? - as soon as May or June.
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