Apple Reportedly Slashes iPhone Production Plans This Quarter: Nikkei

Apple has yet again reportedly slashed its iPhone production plans, this time for the first quarter of the year.

After cutting its earnings guidance by a hefty $5 billion USD last week, Apple has reduced planned production for its three new iPhone models by about 10 percent for the January-March quarter, reports Nikkei Asian Review.

Apple has asked reportedly its suppliers to manufacture fewer iPhones than planned for January to March, affecting both older iPhone models and the firm’s flagship iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR models.

“The level of revision is different for each supplier and depends on the product mix they supply,” one of Nikkei‘s sources said.

Another source added that Apple has revised its planned production of 43 million units, and is now targeting 40 million units for the January to Mark quarter, from an earlier projection of 47 million to 48 million units.



Last year, Apple sold 52.21 million iPhones in the January-March quarter. But given the revenue adjustment and slowdown in iPhone sales, that number is surely going to take a hit. The Cupertino company said last year that it will no longer reveal unit sales beginning Q1 2019, so only figures from industry analysts will be able to gauge the drop in sales this year.

This marks the second time in two months when Apple has trimmed production plans, Nikkei said.

Last week, Apple slashed its guidance on revenue, partly blaming the revision on a weakening economy in China and lower-than-expected iPhone revenue in the Greater China region. The move roiled markets as investors worried about a slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy amid Beijing’s ongoing trade fight with Washington.