Apple has cut orders for iPhone 5 components due to weaker-than-expected demand, reports the Wall Street Journal. The article said that
“Apple’s orders for iPhone 5 screens for the January-March quarter, for example, have dropped to roughly half of what the company had previously planned to order.”
In addition, orders for other components have also been reduced. Suppliers were notified last month.
The company’s stock dropped last month due to reports from analysts that Apple was cutting into iPhone 5 orders for the first quarter of 2013, leading to speculation that demand for the smartphone is lackluster. But as Business Insider notes, there are a few other reasons why component orders might have been reduced.
Manufacturing of the iPhone 5 might have gone better than expected (though was a shortage of the device after it was first released due to challenges in the assembly process), and some analysts have speculated that Apple plans to launch one or more new iPhone models by this summer. Rumors of a new iPhone were partly responsible for a dip in the performance of Apple shares back in July.
Apple has been emailed for comment.
