Demand for iPhone XR and iPhone XS continue to be weak despite the upcoming holiday season. As a result, Apple had to reduce the volume of component orders for the two models.
This has caused a domino effect down the supply chain as industry sources indicate a number of Apple’s suppliers (many of which are from Taiwan) have had to revise their earnings report. Some even had to lay off staff to cope with the lower than expected orders.
iPhone camera lens supplier Largan Precision, for instance, has estimated its November revenues will fall compared to October, according to DigiTimes. While Career Technology, a supplier of flexible PCBs for iPhones, have recently laid off 110 workers to cope with the order cuts.
Most other iPhone supply chain partners are expected to see their revenues decline in November as well.
Most telling of all is Apple’s decision to no longer disclose the number of units it sold in its earning reports. This is, apparently, a bid to shift the focus from the actual number of units sold to the amount of money that can be made from each unit sold.
Recently, Apple had reported re-started the iPhone X production line to fulfil contract requirements with Samsung Display. Apple is said to have a minimum order obligation for its OLED panels in light of the lukewarm sales of iPhone XR and iPhone XS.
The iPhone X was discontinued soon after the iPhone XR and iPhone XS was announced.
This isn’t the first time Apple has brought back a discontinued model into production. Not too long ago, Apple had reintroduced the iPhone 6 in our market as their new “entry-level” device and they have also bumped the base storage from 16GB to 32GB.
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