iPhone 5c Supply Chain Rumours Continue, iPhone 5s Production Reportedly Increased

iPhone 5s & 5c

Earlier this week, it was reported that Apple has told manufacturing partners Pegatron and Hon Hai to ramp down production of the iPhone 5C.

A report published on Friday suggests that Apple has dialed back iPhone 5C production by 35 percent, while increasing iPhone 5S production by 75 percent. NPD attributes the production cuts to weakened demand due to the iPhone 5C’s higher-than-expected price.

Initial rumours pointed to the iPhone 5C being a ‘cheap’ device, but the fact that the 5C is nearly identical to the iPhone 5 — and is not cheap — really disappointed some consumers.

That is certainly an easy explanation for such changes to production following from the nine million new iPhones sold on opening weekend. Last year similar reports on iPhone 5 demand proved that supply chain rumours are not always the best information when it comes to gauging iPhone sales. Things can very quickly go from “Apple has cut orders for iPhone components due to weak demand” to “Apple actually sold 47.8 million iPhones this quarter.”

iphone5c-press

Apple’s CEO Tim Cook said the following in January:

“I’d recommend questioning the accuracy of any kind of rumor about build plans. I’d also stress that even if a particular data point were to be factual it would be impossible to interpret what it really means to our business. Our supply chain is very complex and we have multiple sources for our components. Yields can vary, supplier performance can vary. There’s just a long list of things that would make any single data point not a great proxy for what’s going on.”

Apple is set to hold a media event on Tuesday, October 22 and report fourth-quarter earnings on Monday, October 28.

[via AllThingsD]

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