Apple Reportedly Cuts iPhone XS and iPhone XR Production Orders Amid Lower-Than-Expected Demand

[haydn!]

Always read these with an air of caution as they’re so often proved wrong when it comes to financial results time.

But. Apples model of increasing prices to drive revenue growth, rather than growth through increased volumes is not sustainable as there is a natural limit to what enough people will pay to make it add up. The markets knows this, and even they’re not buying Apples attempt to hide it this time around.

 

[Geoko78]

Gonna keep my iphone 7 plus cause it gets the job done and gonna keep it until the notch disappears.
I understand why this design was chosen but i am not gonna give money for that type of product. I will patiently wait till the notch disappears even if i will have to wait 3 more years.

 

[Hustler1337]

This whole debate is ridiculous.

2014: iPhone 6+ = $749
2018: iPhone Xr = $749

It’s all the other Apple products except iPhones which are too expensive.

The 6 Plus was their flagship at the time. The XR is their 'lower-end' model. Also, the XR is actually more expensive than the 6 Plus' price at the time of release.

 

[wallysb01]

This whole debate is ridiculous.

2014: iPhone 6+ = $749
2018: iPhone Xr = $749

It’s all the other Apple products except iPhones which are too expensive.

So where is the iPhone 6 ($649) price point? The iPhone 8, which is the same body and a year old model some 4 years later?

 

[liketom]

My reason for not buying 2018 iPhones.

Price is what made me not buy an iPhone this upgrade cycle, iPhone at £499 -£699 is what I'd be willing to shell out for.
New 2018 iPhones starting at £749 is just too much to take and topping out at an eye watering £1449 is IMO is just taking the piss.

so yes you probably guessed it I bought a Samsung S9 part of an upgrade on my mobile network for 2 years phone cost + data +txt and min. = £576

The Sammy is nice and for the first time in many years I get 2 whole days of battery usage without having my iPhone charger handy. If only iTunes Movies was on it I'd be set, until iPhone prices come down back to earth.

 

[kazmac]

Happy with my 7+. I’ll either replace the battery or get another one before September 2019.

Have no desire or reason to upgrade, I do not use all the bells and whistles. Gave Apple $1k for this phone. Will avoid that going forward. If I am going to stick with Apple, I will buy older models at a price I am willing to pay.

 

[Baymowe335]

Except all those models were all too similar to the iPhone 6/6+.

The iPhone Xr ( which we own 2 in our house) hasn't even been out a month yet and there are already reports of cutting back production of it.

You mean like the iPhone X last year?

It's literally impossible to discern anything from supply chain reports and they are always wrong. Always. Not once has it been proven correct.

 

[kingofwale]

remember how Apple used to keep the price of their new product the same on keynotes as previous year's???

 

[Baymowe335]

Too expensive. Too big.

Totally wrong. That's not what the data says.
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If these rumors are true, I'm one of the customers responsible, because I refused to upgrade my iPhone X from last year. Until now, I've been happy to support Apple's iOS efforts so long as iOS devices were companions to the Mac, but now it seems clear that Apple has relegated Macs to the back burner. Consequently, I am going to spend my money on Mac software and accessories to help Apple get the message that a lot of us care about the Mac much more than any iOS device and that the two product lines should get equal priority in terms of yearly updates and new features.

Anyone with an iPhone X wasn't targeted with this year's lineup.

You'll be buying next year or in 2020.

 

[bulldoze]

I should be one of the customers for these phones but I priced it all up, had a think, made a decision and went to the Apple Store.

I got them to put a new battery in my 6S and that will do me for another year.

The last straw for me was finding there was no 128GB option for the XS.

 

[ryanwarsaw]

I hope Apple uses their unusual extended Black Friday sale to “test” how costumers react to lower pricing ...

I am guessing if there is any adjustment coming it would be next launch. The complaints would be horrendous if they chopped prices mid-cycle. That happened once before and it was a crap storm for a little while.

Apple obviously needs new blood and you can look no further than this guy. Put him on TV doing the luiqidation/fire sale.

 

[jicon]

I have a 7 from last year that I'm happy with, and likely willing to get the battery replaced again next year. My wife just got the XS, and... it's a heavy phone. The XR is that much bigger in size... maybe its me, but I'm not in the mood to pay significantly more for the smaller of the two devices, which feels like it weighs double what I carry today.

 

[doctor-don]

WHY on earth would I pay out the kazoo for a new phone when the one I am using today meets my demands?

High Price#1 X Phone Qty sold = lotsa $$$
Low Price#2 X Higher Phone Qty Sold = lot more $$$

It ain't an automatic narcan / naloxone injector paid for by Medicare & Insurance.

 

[Act3]

This whole debate is ridiculous.

2014: iPhone 6+ = $749
2018: iPhone Xr = $749


It’s all the other Apple products except iPhones which are too expensive.

And that was for the 16 gig model back then.

 

[Baymowe335]

WHY on earth would I pay out the kazoo for a new phone when the one I am using today meets my demands?

High Price#1 X Phone Qty sold = lotsa $$$
Low Price#2 X Higher Phone Qty Sold = lot more $$$

It ain't an automatic narcan / naloxone injector paid for by Medicare & Insurance.

Because you're not poor and you see benefits of a new phone?

 

[Gudi]

So where is the iPhone 6 ($649) price point? The iPhone 8, which is the same body and a year old model some 4 years later?

Apple currently doesn’t produce one. We don’t get more than three new phones every year. Last year one OLED and two LCDs. This year two OLEDs and one LCD. Small phone lovers have to wait for the next iPhone SE moment.

 

[partsofspeech]

iPhone SE is admirable, affordable, but not available.
XS is admirable, available, but not affordable.
XR is afordable, available, but not admirable.

You got to have all three in order to be a good Apple.

 

[falainber]

Here is an interesting fact. Apple makes $150 profit on average on each iPhone. Xiaomi's average profit from their smartphones - $2. Both are probably not sustainable.

 

[mcorliss]

In recent weeks, Apple slashed production orders for its latest iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR models due to "lower-than-expected demand," among other reasons, according to unnamed sources cited by The Wall Street Journal.

The report claims the production cuts have hit the iPhone XR hardest, with Apple said to have slashed its production plan for the device by "up to a third of the approximately 70 million units" it had asked some suppliers to produce between September and February, amounting to a reduction of up to 23.3 million units or so.

And in the past week, the report claims Apple told several suppliers that it cut its production plan again for the iPhone XR, as it battles a mature smartphone market and increasing competition from Chinese vendors like Huawei.

The production cuts are said to have "reignited frustration" among iPhone suppliers and "raised worries about Apple's ability to forecast demand."

We've heard this narrative before. Last year, a flurry of reports variously referred to the iPhone X as a "failure," "disappointment," and "flop." Another report said the iPhone X "did not live up to the hype." Yet, the iPhone X went on to become not only the top-selling iPhone at Apple, but in the entire world.

Apple also reported record-breaking iPhone revenue of $61.5 billion in the iPhone X launch quarter, so the device was anything but a flop.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has dismissed these kind of reports in the past. During an earnings call in January 2013, he noted that the company's supply chain is very complex and that conclusions shouldn't be drawn from singular data points:Apple's financial chief Luca Maestri has also cautioned about trying to determine iPhone demand based on potentially misleading supply chain reports.

It is possible, however, that Apple is increasingly struggling to forecast iPhone demand. Today's report claims that Apple was "excessively optimistic" about its initial production forecast for the iPhone X, which it proceeded to slash "by some 20 million units" for the first three months of 2018.

Unfortunately, iPhone sales will be less transparent going forward, as Apple announced that it will no longer disclose iPhone unit sales in its earnings reports starting with the first quarter of its 2019 fiscal year.

Justifying the move, Maestri said unit sales are "not particularly relevant for our company at this point," as they are "not necessarily representative of the underlying strength of our business." He added that Apple may provide qualitative commentary related to unit sales if the info is valuable to investors.

Apple will still disclose iPhone revenue on a quarterly basis, however, and any significant year-over-year decline in that amount would help indicate if iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR demand is truly lower than expected.

AAPL is down nearly 15 percent since Apple's earnings report on November 1.

Article Link: Apple Reportedly Cuts iPhone XS and iPhone XR Production Orders Amid Lower-Than-Expected Demand

 

[JaylenFast]

My 6+ finally crapped the bed. Touch input wasnt registering. I read it might be because of a bad battery. But whatever, screen was cracked too.

Instead of putting $100 into it, I splurged for the XS Max. Got a good deal on an Ebay auction.

I am blown away. It is amazing. Face ID is truly so much more convenient than Touch ID. Well worth price I paid, and well worth what Apple is charging.

 

[Gudi]

SE is admirable, affordable, but not available.
XS is admirable, available, but not affordable.
XR is afordable, available, but not admirable.

You got to have all three in order to be a good Apple.

That makes no sense. In which way is the SE admirable, but the XR isn’t?

 

[Rogifan]

FAANG stocks officially in correction. I believe Microsoft is too.

 

[Mr. Skeleton]

Because he's still riding on the iPhone/iPad tsunami put in place by Jobs. That tsunami is starting to run out of steam, as evidenced by their blatant price increases across the board this year. Google never had such a wave to ride on, everyone knows they are a software company and not a hardware one, and one who makes money off advertising. They could give a **** less if they have to cut their phone prices or do BOGOs, the more people they get in their ecosystem, the more $$$ they bring in. While I thoroughly appreciate Apple's focus on privacy, them banking on hardware sales will only get them so far. One person can only hold so much hardware, while software is ever-evolving and improving. And recent hardware advancements such as the A12 will help to ensure that hardware lasts even longer than it used to. Which is why they are starting to push heavy into TV and other media services that can generate more money.

Hostile throat cutting replies. You seem reasonable.

 

[mcorliss]

Fancy cameras are neat, but when will finally Apple figure out, people want to make a call without dropping it repeatedly, first and foremost. Master that first, then shoot for other secondary features. Based on the horrible signal of my existing iPhone X, and the even worse widely reported reception of the iPhone Xs Max, why would I ever choose to upgrade my phone prior to true 5G being launched nationwide...especially at these comical new prices. I used to upgrade every year, but seems to me that Apple has completely lost the plot. BTW...while they didn't upgrade the iMac this past year, I ended up spending $1,100 on a 38" LG Monitor for my MacBook Pro instead on a new iMac. Wasted opportunity, Apple! There are plenty of other folks who have gone the same route to the loss of Apple. Shame!

 

[Mr. Skeleton]

The 6 Plus was their flagship at the time. The XR is their 'lower-end' model. Also, the XR is actually more expensive than the 6 Plus' price at the time of release.

Lol. Lower end. It’s literally the same phone as the flagship with LCD and one camera.
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Fancy cameras are neat, but when will finally Apple figure out, people want to make a call without dropping it repeatedly, first and foremost. Master that first, then shoot for other secondary features. Based on the horrible signal of my existing iPhone X, and the even worse widely reported reception of the iPhone Xs Max, why would I ever choose to upgrade my phone prior to true 5G being launched nationwide...especially at these comical new prices. I used to upgrade every year, but seems to me that Apple has completely lost the plot. BTW...while they didn't upgrade the iMac this past year, I ended up spending $1,100 on a 38" LG Monitor for my MacBook Pro instead on a new iMac. Wasted opportunity, Apple! There are plenty of other folks who have gone the same route to the loss of Apple. Shame!

Maybe you should take your phone to the Apple store. I’ve never had a call drop on my x or XS max


Look I get it, some people have issues. Take it to an Apple store with the best in class customer service. Otherwise, save your hate filled exaggerations and ‘Apple needs new leadership’ for another forum. It’s getting old. Nobody wants to replace the leadership of one of the only ethical companys that is protecting our rights.