Apple Reportedly Asks Suppliers to Make Fewer Components for AirPods, MacBooks, and Apple Watch Due to Weak Demand

[MacRumors]

Apple has asked suppliers to make fewer components for the AirPods, MacBook, and Apple Watch families in the first quarter of this year due to low demand, according to a report from Nikkei Asia.

From the report:

In a sign of the gloomy outlook for consumer electronics, Apple has notified several suppliers to build fewer components for AirPods, the Apple Watch and MacBooks for the first quarter, citing weakening demand, according to Nikkei Asia’s supply chain checks with several component suppliers.

In the fourth quarter of last year, Apple reported Mac revenue of $11.51 billion, an increase of nearly 26% year-over-year. Wearable revenue, which includes the Apple Watch, was $41 billion, while iPad revenue dropped by 13% year-over-year to $7.17 billion.

Talking to Nikkei Asia, one anonymous manager at an Apple supplier is quoted as saying "Apple has alerted us to lower orders for almost all product lines actually since the quarter ending December, partly because the demand is not that strong." Another executive at a supplier for both Apple and Samsung described the current situation as "very chaotic," citing ongoing disruptions and complications.

Apple has been facing challenging supply chain hurdles in the last few months, mainly impacting iPhone 14 Pro production. Apple's main iPhone plant in China has resumed production at near-peak capacity, a sign iPhone production has resumed normality.

Article Link: Apple Reportedly Asks Suppliers to Make Fewer Components for AirPods, MacBooks, and Apple Watch Due to Weak Demand

 

[t0rqx]

Now is the time to shine. Bring back innovation and quality! If anyone could do it, it's Apple!

 

[oink_oink]

Apple's outlook wouldn't be quite so gloomy if their products weren't so boring. Macs that can't do 4k @120FPS w/ 4:4:4 via HDMI? In 2023? Laughable. Screams DOA.

 

[4743913]

all I care about is that they have the components to keep my 2019 Macbook Pro 16 running for a few more years.

 

[Zakn]

They should either innovate or reduce prices to increase sales.

It is difficult to convince people to buy an iPhone 14 Pro for 1329 euros to just have the « dynamic island ». And now they rumor that the evolution for the iPhone 15 Pro is USB C.

If Apple doesn’t find new ways to innovate, they will have a painful years ahead

 

[smaffei]

But, there is no looming recession… Nah. 🙄

 

[Rychiar]

I wanted to buy a new Apple Watch or iPad this year but did not cus it’s the same product as last year

 

[4743913]

Apple's outlook wouldn't be quite so gloomy if their products weren't so boring. Macs that can't do 4k @120FPS w/ 4:4:4 via HDMI? In 2023? Laughable. Screams DOA.

it's weird that apple did not try to buy some big game dev house like microsoft did. game machines are always in demand if there are actually games for it. I don't really need to run omnifocus any faster.. they should hire the old Criterion team members that left EA (Three Fields Ent) and make awesome racers for the m1/2

 

[Herrpod]

I’m shocked that people are less interested in these low effort 2022 offerings. Shocked!

 

[jjudson]

This shouldn't be surprising. Folks are concerned about their economic future in '23, inflation is eating what they have, and Apple's devices are very durable over many years, negating the need to constantly upgrade.

Now, if Apple could learn from the LED light bulb manufacturers to implement planned obsolescence...

 

[diggy33]

Apple needs a laptop that starts below $800 for consumers.

 

[mono1980]

Inflation is finally curbing people's ability to spend on expensive electronics. That's what happens when eggs cost almost $5 a dozen...

Now is the time to shine. Bring back innovation and quality! If anyone could do it, it's Apple!

Apple's quality is still good. That's literally why people are keeping them longer and not upgrading. My 2018 iPad Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max still seem new and I'm expecting to keep my M1 Mac mini and M2 MacBook Air for a very long time.

 

[senttoschool]

Of course.

No M2 Pro/Max/Ultra/Extreme. No M2 update for iMac and Mac Mini. No 15" Air. No M2 Pro Mini. No Mac Pro. No Macbook SE.

Thank goodness for return to office. Now Apple employees will actually do some work.

 

[WiiDSmoker]

Of course.

No M2 Pro/Max/Ultra/Extreme. No M2 update for iMac and Mac Mini. No 15" Air. No M2 Pro Mini.

Thank goodness for return to office. Now Apple employees will actually do some work.

Even if those came out here, the prices outside of the USA would be greatly increased resulting in fewer sales . Even as a person who is very financially well off, I still did a double and triple take. It’s insane how much they’ve increased it by here in the UK.

 

[gusping]

Even if those came out here, the prices outside of the USA would be greatly increased resulting in fewer sales . Even as a person who is very financially well off, I still did a double and triple take. It’s insane how much they’ve increased it by here in the UK.

Agreed. The prices have put me off Apple products entirely. I am actually debating whether or not I should go all in on my gaming pc. Mac OS is so bad now that it's not the attraction it was 10 years ago.

 

[ZivaD]

But they innovated their way to a green iPhone not so long ago, what more do these people want?!

 

[Hopefully Smarter]

planted story like this released at precisely the same time every year.

 

[Red Oak]

They should either innovate or reduce prices to increase sales.

It is difficult to convince people to buy an iPhone 14 Pro for 1329 euros to just have the « dynamic island ». And now they rumor that the evolution for the iPhone 15 Pro is USB C.

If Apple doesn’t find new ways to innovate, they will have a painful years ahead

Right. That satellite feature is NOT innovating. Nor is the crash detection. Nor the A16 being the fastest smartphone CPU/GPU in the world. Nor the completely revamped and improved camera system. Nor the always on Lock Screen, or the better battery life. Nor the fact that the phone retains 50%+ of its value after two years

Some people are just being taken advantage of. The nerve of this company

 

[Gudi]

I'm always amazed at how many people already have Apple Watches and AirPods.

 

[timber]

Apple's outlook wouldn't be quite so gloomy if their products weren't so boring. Macs that can't do 4k @120FPS w/ 4:4:4 via HDMI? In 2023? Laughable. Screams DOA.

I doubt anyone (not literally of course) knows what that means.

What people know is that Apple stuff is increasingly expensive and their free budget is following the opposite trend.

 

[jclardy]

I think we have truly passed the “peak” of the yearly upgrade cycle. I have a 14 Pro and it is great, but hostly I would have still been happy with my 11 Pro which I still have around as a test device. iPad is truly in stasis mode, even though it has gotten huge software upgrades. The 2018 11” is still an incredibly viable device in 2022.

My family members which are must less techie are quite happy with iPhone 8/X era devices. My M2 MacBook Air smokes my past intel machines, and we aren’t going to get another M1 level quantum leap in performance/battery.

Airpods are great, but I upgrade when my old ones batteries are dead or the case breaks. Everything is finally “good enough” to not feel the urge to move on to something newer.

 

[mdnz]

Doubt it has much to do with the products but more about the pricing / people don't have a lot to spend nowadays.

 

[Zakn]

Right. That satellite feature is NOT innovating. Nor is the crash detection. Nor the A16 being the fastest smartphone CPU/GPU in the world. Nor the completely revamped and improved camera system. Nor the always on Lock Screen, or the better battery life. Nor the fact that the phone retains 50%+ of its value after two years

Some people are just being taken advantage of. The nerve of this company

I have some news for you : not all iPhone users have cars so the crash detection is not a feature for a lot of clients + it doesn’t seem to work correctly + you can’t call it innovation if it has been on the Pixel for a few years now.

Can you tell me when was the last time you hiked in an area without cover and you needed the satellite feature ?

I am on an iPhone 13 Pro and I don’t feel a need to upgrade. And if the article is correct, it seems I am not alone in this situation

 

[bassexpander]

Sold my used iPhone 11pro for a used Samsung Galaxy S21. I now have a slightly larger screen that is 120hz, a CPU that is similar, and network speeds and range that are 3x what the iPhone 11Pro was. That's the dirty little secret about iPhones these days.... poor network speed and range. Oh, and I got $70 back because the used 11Pro cost more.

 

[turbineseaplane]

That satellite feature is NOT innovating. Nor is the crash detection.

i don’t know… the niche of folks who truly care about these two things feels tiny