Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Mobile
  3. News

Shrinking demand forces Apple to slow down iPhone X production

By
iPhone X - Hands On

The iPhone X launched to stellar reviews and equally strong sales, but Fast Company is reporting that demand has slowed considerably. A source within Apple’s supply chains has said that the company plans to make a mere eight million units for the second quarter of this year.

Recommended Videos

Part of the problem stems from the simple fact that the rush of holiday sales convinced Apple to produce too many iPhone X units and now needs to “burn off” its supply. In total, Apple sold more than 77 million iPhones during the 2017 holiday season. Tim Cook has said that the iPhone X outsold all other models every week of the first quarter since its release. This tracks with Above Avalon analyst Neil Cybart’s estimate that the iPhone X accounted for about 35 percent of all smartphone sales during the holiday season.

Related

Demand for the device has slowed down considerably since then, however, and Apple’s supply chain reflects this new reality. TSMC, which produces many of the chips used in the iPhone X, warned investors of falling demand for its chips. Analysts expected TSMC to earn about $8.8 billion, but the company’s quarterly guidance reports say that number is closed to $7.8 to $7.9 billion.

Australia-based AMS, which makes some of the components used in Apple’s facial recognition system, warned that it expects its second-quarter revenue to be half what it was in the first.

Internally, there are reports that some within Apple are disappointed in the iPhone X sales and have questioned the wisdom of releasing a $1,000 smartphone. This mindset may help determine Apple’s game plan for 2018. The company is expected to release three new iPhones this year, including a 6.1-inch LCD model.

The LCD phone could be priced as low as $550. Some sources within Apple say that the company expects this more affordable iPhone to account for as much as 50 percent of unit sales once it is launched.

None of this means that the iPhone X is a failure. Cybart estimates that, by the time the 2018 iPhones launch, the iPhone X will have sold 60 million units and earned Apple $59 billion in revenue. There are plenty of companies that would love to have that level of “disappointment.”

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Eric Brackett
Eric Brackett
Former Digital Trends Contributor
A big iPhone update is right around the corner
An iPhone 15 Pro Max sitting upright, showing one of its home screens.

With announcements for 2024 models of the iPad Air and iPad Pro, today's been a busy day of Apple news. But the iPad isn't the only Apple product in the news today. Following the big announcements from its event earlier this morning, Apple also shared some important news regarding the next iPhone update.

As of Tuesday, May 7, Apple has begun rolling out RC builds for iOS 17.5. RC stands for "Release Candidate," and it's the last beta version of a software update that Apple releases before its final public rollout. In other news, the official iOS 17.5 update should be right around the corner.

Read more
Apple has quietly killed its cheapest iPad
Three 2021 iPads are stacked on a table.

The iPad lineup has received a price bump after Apple quietly killed its cheapest iPad model. Apple’s 9th-generation iPad used to cost $329, but has been discontinued. At the same time, the company has reduced the 10th-gen iPad’s starting price by $100, which means it’s now priced at $349. As a result, getting the cheapest iPad means you'll now spend $20 more than before.

The 9th-gen Apple iPad was launched in 2021 with the A13 chipset and Apple's Center Stage featur,e but retained the same old design with the already-old Lightning port and home button. With Apple moving to a USB-C port on all devices to comply with EU laws, it was inevitable that Apple would discontinue the 9th-gen iPad this year. The iPhone SE remains the only Apple product with a home button and a Lightning port that's still available in the company's lineup.

Read more
Apple updated two of its biggest iPad apps, and they look amazing
A screenshot of the new Final Cut Pro app.

Apple pulled off a surprise today with a pair of new iPad Pros that leverage the new M4 silicon. To go with it, the company has also revealed updated versions of the Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro apps that introduce a healthy bunch of new features to take advantage of all the firepower the M4 offers.

Starting with Final Cut Pro 2 for iPad, the app gains new tricks such as Live Multicam, external drive support, Live Drawing, and more. Apple claims that thanks to the M4 silicon, the updated app boosts rendering speeds by 2x and opens the doors for 4x higher streams for editing ProRES RAW content.

Read more