Apple Slashes iPhone 5 Part Orders Due to Weak Demand

SomeDudeAsking said:

You are deluded. All the "Apple bashers" here, including me, are also owners of iDevices. Unlike Apple loyalists, we know that iDevices are behind the times and found better things.

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Sorry you're so disappointed. Does someone have a gun to your head, forcing you to stay with an "iDevice"? And if you have "found better things", why are you here still bitterly complaining about devices that are "behind the times"? You found something better, so everything's good right?

This is like finding your perfect girlfriend and then going back to your ex-girlfriend to yell at her about what a bitch she was and then spending your days trying to convince all of her friends what a bitch she is. What a colossal waste of time. And it speaks much more to your personality than your ex-girlfriend's.

Grow up and gain some perspective bro.

flux73 said:

Sorry you're so disappointed. Does someone have a gun to your head, forcing you to stay with an "iDevice"? And if you have "found better things", why are you here still bitterly complaining about devices that are "behind the times"? You found something better, so everything's good right?

This is like finding your perfect girlfriend and then going back to your ex-girlfriend to yell at her about what a bitch she was and then spending your days trying to convince all of her friends what a bitch she is. What a colossal waste of time. And it speaks much more to your personality than your ex-girlfriend's.

Grow up and gain some perspective bro.

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Gotta agree. There's nothing wrong with switching, nothing wrong with preferring android, and nothing wrong with coming here to talk Apple news and rumors. But to sit around saying how much better android is over and over again for who knows what reason seems like you need a hobby

flux73 said:

Grow up and gain some perspective bro.

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Maybe he still ultimately prefers Apple and the iDevices, and would like to see the features he likes on Android ported over to iOS. Some people don't bash something just for the simple sake of bashing. They complain because they'd like to see improvements made to their current and/or once favorite platform.

Contrary to what some people here believe, you don't have to slavishly adore something and heap praise on it 24/7 to be a "fan".

Renzatic said:

Maybe he still ultimately prefers Apple and the iDevices, and would like to see the features he likes on Android ported over to iOS. Some people don't bash something just for the simple sake of bashing. They complain because they'd like to see improvements made to their current and/or once favorite platform.

Contrary to what some people here believe, you don't have to slavishly adore something and heap praise on it 24/7 to be a "fan".

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There's some irony (or maybe it's another word) going on too.

Many people who are critical of Apple are actually big Apple fans and want to see them succeed and "complain" because they expect more/want more/see room for improvement.

Renzatic said:

Maybe he still ultimately prefers Apple and the iDevices, and would like to see the features he likes on Android ported over to iOS. Some people don't bash something just for the simple sake of bashing. They complain because they'd like to see improvements made to their current and/or once favorite platform.

Contrary to what some people here believe, you don't have to slavishly adore something and heap praise on it 24/7 to be a "fan".

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But he's not saying anything productive. He's just saying ios is outdated, and there are better things. If he really wants some change why be so ambiguous about it.

You don't have to think Apple is perfect, but there is no point in telling everyone here how great android is.

samcraig said:

You missed the issue. The issue is I wanted to migrate early OFF of an iPhone. I wasn't upgrading to a new iPhone

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Then go ahead and call your lawyer as that's some serious anti-trust issues there. Apple can only regulate terms of an upgrade when ATT is getting another phone from them. ie. if you were going from a iphone 5 to 5s. They cannot 'lock' you in since you want to change to Android. It would be like BMW telling your financing bank to deny your loan application for a Lexus on the basis that you cannot trade in the BMW 'early' before it's paid off. It's ATT that's blocking you from upgrading as they've paid a larger subsidy on your iPhone vs. a Samsung.

magbarn said:

Then go ahead and call your lawyer as that's some serious anti-trust issues there. Apple can only regulate terms of an upgrade when ATT is getting another phone from them. ie. if you were going from a iphone 5 to 5s. They cannot 'lock' you in since you want to change to Android. It would be like BMW telling your financing bank to deny your loan application for a Lexus on the basis that you cannot trade in the BMW 'early' before it's paid off. It's ATT that's blocking you from upgrading as they've paid a larger subsidy on your iPhone vs. a Samsung.

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Um no. Because my contract wasn't up yet for an upgrade. So technically - I am bound by the terms of that agreement. I can't sue. And it's not Anti-trust since upon completion - Apple has no say. Apple clearly has a proviso with ATT about upgrades. And I would imagine somewhere in the contract I signed - ATT (and Apple) are covered.

That being said - it's not something I would sue for. I'm not that impatient and ultimately not a big deal. I had to wait 6 more weeks. I would imagine getting a lawsuit and action being taken would have taken much longer...

Sensamic said:

Anyone remember Symbian?

It was the iOS of its time.

Where is it now?

Symbian was destroyed by iOS when it was first released.

What will happen to iOS if it doesn't improve dramatically?

The same as Symbian.

Apple fans: you don't want this to happen, so STOP defending iOS. You are doing it a favour.

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Even the latest Symbian releases are still bugged, unresponsive, and fall far behind even what Blackberry has to offer.

Considering the competition, where should iOS "dramatically improve"?

samcraig said:

Um no. Because my contract wasn't up yet for an upgrade. So technically - I am bound by the terms of that agreement. I can't sue. And it's not Anti-trust since upon completion - Apple has no say. Apple clearly has a proviso with ATT about upgrades. And I would imagine somewhere in the contract I signed - ATT (and Apple) are covered.

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It's always possible that AT&T is granted some amount of savings on hardware cost when a customer goes from one iphone to another. Apple is the one who really benefits from early upgrades, so it seems possible.

magbarn said:

Then go ahead and call your lawyer as that's some serious anti-trust issues there. Apple can only regulate terms of an upgrade when ATT is getting another phone from them. ie. if you were going from a iphone 5 to 5s. They cannot 'lock' you in since you want to change to Android. It would be like BMW telling your financing bank to deny your loan application for a Lexus on the basis that you cannot trade in the BMW 'early' before it's paid off. It's ATT that's blocking you from upgrading as they've paid a larger subsidy on your iPhone vs. a Samsung.

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You're looking at it from the perspective of what you're shown. Your analogy could be way off base from the way it's written down. Consider that AT&T loses money on early upgrades. The times they've been aggressive in offering them have been around when other carriers were expanding networks or phone offerings. Otherwise you signed on for 2 years. There is little motivation on their part to renegotiate, as it hurts their margins. If you pay for the phone upfront, most carriers will not lock you to a contract, as their upfront investment is trivial. It's just the cost of a sim card, as the rest of the infrastructure will be there either way.

The iPhone 5 is a lovely piece of hardware with which I have no complaints whatsoever.

iOS on the other hand is now feeling woefully anachronistic, mainly (for me) in the face of the WP8 OS which is like a breath of fresh air with it's slick and moreover, useable interface.

Android however is a total car-crash in terms of both visual coherence and IA/UX! Some love it's customisability, but for me it suffers from the same thing that the original MySpace did. i.e. let people modify every last aspect and they will. 99% of them will also make a god awful mess of it...

The IP5 is absolutely gorgeous but I simply don't understand apple's reluctance to move to a significantly larger screen. 4" is fine but 4.5" would be much better.

A competitor to the note 2 would be welcome as well. The quality and sophistication of the IP5 is unparalleled; but a larger screen size is really mandatory at this point.

This is probably because they're getting ready to use a new type of display...like the much rumoured IGZO.

And with something like that, which is said to extend smartphone batteries from one to two days usage, I'm not surprised they would make some other changes to the device too.

288n said:

I'm an Apple fan, but there's no more denying that the iPhone is no longer a leading product. It is plum weak compared to its competitors.

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Trollers be Trollin,

Im a fan of the best there is, and iphone is definately the best there is.

I had an S3, supposedly the best android got. Bad batterylife, even if you cripple the cpu in options, the phone is very laggy then. Camera is nothing wonderful, its too big and cheap feeling. Pentile screen sucks. etc... so

Trollers be Trollin!

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The IP5 is not selling well, thats why their cutting part orders, simple!

The IP5 is not compelling enough to get most IP4 and IP4s users to switch.

Before I switched, the new cable was the biggest deterant, i have like 10 of the 30 pins kicking around.

and the delicate materials and bendgate that the ip5 has will deter upgraders.

flux73 said:

Sorry you're so disappointed. Does someone have a gun to your head, forcing you to stay with an "iDevice"? And if you have "found better things", why are you here still bitterly complaining about devices that are "behind the times"? You found something better, so everything's good right?

This is like finding your perfect girlfriend and then going back to your ex-girlfriend to yell at her about what a bitch she was and then spending your days trying to convince all of her friends what a bitch she is. What a colossal waste of time. And it speaks much more to your personality than your ex-girlfriend's.

Grow up and gain some perspective bro.

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In case you have not noticed this is an Apple forum, most of the people here like Apple products, we want the iPhone to get better. The fact Apple are slashing orders shows that interest in the iPhone is being lost and that they need to stop cashing in on previous success. I would prefer to have an Apple phone but Apple has made the choice for me to switch to Android, not the other way around.

I would totally jump on the iphone 5 bandwagon if they would consider offering a verizon version that would handle simultaneous voice data functionality. For now I can only hold on to my ATT 4S and dream of that day...

torana355 said:

The fact Apple are slashing orders shows that interest in the iPhone is being lost and that they need to stop cashing in on previous success.

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Actually, no it doesn't. Here's how it works:

Let's say Apple expects to sell 50 million iPhones in the 4th quarter. With the new iPhone 5, they know the yields will be lower at first because they always are with new tech products. So if they expect 50 million, they order parts for say, 65 million to account for failed phones, broken screens, faulty chips, lost screws, etc, etc. December comes around, and they meet their goal of 50 million iPhones. And they have extra parts left over. Let's say 13 million. Next quarter, they lower their expectations to 40 million iPhones. Well now, they no longer need 65 million parts. So they slash their orders to, let's say 35 million parts. They'll need fewer extras this time because yields improve after the first quarter (workers become better at assembling them). On the outside, it looks like they have cut orders by nearly 50%. Obviously, this doesn't mean demand dropped by 50%.

In addition, Apple shifts around orders sometimes because one company will come up with a better price offer than others and so the order cut is for pricing reasons, not demand. Order cuts says nothing about the demand.Look up last year's news about the iPhone 4S. There are ALWAYS reports of "slashed orders". It's always misunderstood and used by Wall Street to manipulate the stock price and get individual stock investors to panic and sell off at a bargain. This year it was particularly bad for the stock because of how high it went.

The real proof that interest in the iPhone is being lost will be if the Wed earnings reports shows a drop-off in iPhones sold since a year ago. The number last year was 37 million. We'll find out in a few days.

I would prefer to have an Apple phone but Apple has made the choice for me to switch to Android, not the other way around.

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Okay. Good luck to you - hope you enjoy your new phone. IMO, what most people mean when they say they want "improvement" is that they want novelty. I have yet to hear of any feature that Android has, that iOS doesn't, that should compel me switch.

flux73 said:

Actually, no it doesn't. But since you don't seem to know about yields and order reallocation, I'm not surprised you don't understand. And I don't really feel like explaining it again. Look up last year's news about the iPhone 4S. There are ALWAYS reports of "slashed orders". Because even though they do cut them, it's not for the reasons most people think. It's always misinterpreted. This has already been explained over and over again. But people continue to not understand which is how Wall Street gets away with manipulating individual investors every time a new iPhone comes out.

The only proof that interest in the iPhone is being lost will be if the Wed earnings reports shows a drop-off in iPhones sold since a year ago. The number last year was 37 million.

Okay. Good luck to you - hope you enjoy your new phone.

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Non of that, if true, changes the fact that I need to change to a different phone. Im not the only one that is a huge Apple fan that is being forced to get an Android phone. I can't even watch You Tube clips in HQ over 3G without jailbreaking, and there is no JB for the iPhone 5. This is just one of MANY issues i have with the iphone and ios. You just keep your head in the sand thinking Apple is untouchable, ive already seen the same thing with Microsoft and Blackberry, and we all know how it worked out for them.

torana355 said:

Non of that, if true, changes the fact that I need to change to a different phone. Im not the only one that is a huge Apple fan that is being forced to get an Android phone. I can't even watch You Tube clips in HQ over 3G without jailbreaking, and there is no JB for the iPhone 5. This is just one of MANY issues i have with the iphone and ios. You just keep your head in the sand thinking Apple is untouchable, ive already seen the same thing with Microsoft and Blackberry, and we all know how it worked out for them.

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Not sure about 3G, but YouTube videos play fine in HQ over LTE.

Steve will figure it out.

Cubytus said:

Considering the competition, where should iOS "dramatically improve"?

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-updated UI
-notification center
-multitasking
-facetime group chat
-shared video streams
-decent notes app
-better siri
-better maps

AHDuke99 said:

I need to dump the stock. I don't see it rebounding to $700/share.

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You don't get it do you? I've read a different take on the situation that it wasn't as bad as you think. The screens they are using are a new type of screen, with any new screen type, the yields aren't that great, since whomever the screen supplier(s) are, Foxconn gets the screens and if they don't pass the tests they have, then they have to use another one and the yields weren't as good as they are supposed to be, so they had to order double what the monthly build demand. Several months go by and now the screens are passing to higher levels, so they cut the number of screens because they have higher yields. Does this make sense? The demand is there, according to several analysts that cover Apple that also check on demand for these products and they don't see a demand drop, they see it as the parts they are getting meeting yields, so they don't have to order as much. Now, the consensus for iPhone 5 sales in Dec 2012 should be around 50 Million. Just to give you a comparison, the SIII sold 20 million units in the first 100 days and the iPhone 5 should have around 60 Mil (sept and Dec quarters), that's 3x more than the SIII, the SIII only sold 15 Mil units in Dec. So I would assume that the first full quarter of sales is traditionally the highest, and then it goes down quarter by quarter until the new models are announced. If they did 50 Mil in Dec, then they'll probably sell around 40-45 Million unit in March quarter since they also added T-Mobile. If this is the case, then Apple could break the 100 Million unit mark in basically 6 months. That's selling faster than any other smartphone. Of course Apple is already working on new models, because they have to, that's what Apple typically does 5 minutes after they announce a product, Engineers are on to the next. I wouldn't be surprised if Apple has two maybe three different sized phones, with other improvements.

If you are looking to invest. Apple doesn't usually go lower than a stock price where the P/E is any lower than 11, and it usually tops out at a P/E of around 16. There are analysts that are projecting a blowout quarter which may push up the earnings per share from $44+ to over $50 which will definitely push up the share price. The December quarter sets the bell weather for the year.

Bottom line, from an investment perspective, $500 is CHEAP. Especially if they sign China Mobile later this year. The second they do, that should push the stock up by HUGE numbers.

notjustjay said:

Haven't the last few weeks (even months) been filled with rumors like "Apple to update iPhone even sooner than expected"? Wasn't there talk of a 5S, even a 6, already under development?

So how is this a surprise to anyone?

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I don't see why a new model in development would be crazy.

irDigital0l said:

-updated UI
-notification center
-multitasking
-facetime group chat
-shared video streams
-decent notes app
-better siri
-better maps

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I also don't see why speeding up the refresh cycle or having new iOS would be wrong. Notes app needs a facelift, and reminders app should be redone.
You could also add updates to and add better iWork / iLife app integration!

Also for all those complaints no one is forcing you to buy one!

Nale72 said:

I'm not saying these are enough to make anyone switch, but these are things that I personally would love to have on my iP5 that Android has got:

- NFC.
- Ability to use TrueCaller etc. to let you know who is calling you even though you don't have the number in your contacts and/or block calls from sellers etc.
- Widgets and fast setting toggles.
- Letting you choose default app for different functions (calls, navigation, browsing, music, pictures etc.).
- Use custom keyboard like Swype
- Ability to have different DND settings, e g different settings for weekdays and weekends. On my Ray I had it quiet longer in the mornings on Saturdays and Sundays compared to weekdays.
- T9 Dialer
- Ability to add/remove music, pictures and other files easily and drag/drop them betweeen any computer and phone with USB connection through file explorer.

These are no dealbreakers for me, but I sure miss them.



I'm pretty sure I read another article, with actual quotes from Google where my recollection was that they said that the Apple app was better designed and smoother, not better in every way. But I guess that's subjective. I can't find that article now, but this one seems to state something similar.

I myself agree that it might be better looking and better designed, but I still miss a few features at the top of my mind from my past Android phones that I'm pretty sure will come to the iOS version in the future:

- Offline maps (essential for use abroad so that you don't go broke roaming)
- Bike mode
- Indoor maps
- Option to measure distance between two or more points of your choice on the map.

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Do you realize you're listing features on an Android phone? Go buy one.

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Tig Bitties said:

If Apple wants to win back Android users, they need to do things. #1 revamp iOS, freshen it up with a new UI, and not just a screen full of static app icons. #2 offer a larger screen version like 4.3". And offer some customization in the OS, allow themes or options to chnage the way it looks.

If Apple does that, I would seriously consider ditching my nexus, for a new iPhone 6.

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The majority of people who bought ANdroid phones would NEVER buy an iphone to begin with because a) they hate apple or b) they cant afford an iphone. There's no point catering to their needs and messing up the existing LOYAL customers. The majority of Android users bought the cheap ****** Android phones that can't even play Angry birds so those features you mentioned are not gonna be useful or appealing to them.

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walmartmartyr said:

Trollers be Trollin,

Im a fan of the best there is, and iphone is definately the best there is.

I had an S3, supposedly the best android got. Bad batterylife, even if you cripple the cpu in options, the phone is very laggy then. Camera is nothing wonderful, its too big and cheap feeling. Pentile screen sucks. etc... so

Trollers be Trollin!

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The IP5 is not selling well, thats why their cutting part orders, simple!

The IP5 is not compelling enough to get most IP4 and IP4s users to switch.

Before I switched, the new cable was the biggest deterant, i have like 10 of the 30 pins kicking around.

and the delicate materials and bendgate that the ip5 has will deter upgraders.

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I'd like to see your reaction when Apple reveals sales number on the 23rd.

drblank said:

You don't get it do you? I've read a different take on the situation that it wasn't as bad as you think. The screens they are using are a new type of screen, with any new screen type, the yields aren't that great, since whomever the screen supplier(s) are, Foxconn gets the screens and if they don't pass the tests they have, then they have to use another one and the yields weren't as good as they are supposed to be, so they had to order double what the monthly build demand. Several months go by and now the screens are passing to higher levels, so they cut the number of screens because they have higher yields. Does this make sense?

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Nope, the "better yield" theory doesn't make any sense. It doesn't work that way. If the factory is getting a bunch of bad screens in, they return them for a working replacement. They don't order a higher number.

What would make sense are production difficulties, lower demand and/or changing to a new model. If the demand is there, one or both of the other two make sense.

There's another possibility as well. Apple sometimes likes to manipulate parts suppliers by talking about buying a lot, then getting only half the original number.

Apple did just that a few years back around 2008, when they forecast a huge requirement for Flash memory, and later slashed that figure. This left eager memory manufacturers with a giant surplus, and they had to drop their prices to very low levels... at which point Apple jumped in and bought the parts for a song.

cappadonna said:

gotta agree. there's nothing wrong with switching, nothing wrong with preferring android, and nothing wrong with coming here to talk apple news and rumors. But to sit around saying how much better android is over and over again for who knows what reason seems like you need a hobby

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