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

Gaprofitt said:
I went Android long ago, not locked into the Apple ecosystem, better hardware and features. I now have the Huawei Mate Pro 20. 40 megapixel camera, 3 lenses including ultrawide, inbuilt fingerprint and face ID, bigger battery. Long ago being locked into Apple's world made sense, because the tech was so much better. Those days have left long ago.
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You've got blinders on, my friend. I encourage you to open your eyes. The Apple experience (hardware and software) and cross-device usage is still superior. But you'd need to be looking at it from a pure productivity standpoint, not as a nice-to-have gadget in your pocket.
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nameischarles said:
They usually announce this news a few months before the next iPhone is going to be released but I don’t remember being this early that production has been slashed.
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I see how it could happen. The XR is an amazing device, alongside the XS. I suspect Apple thought would take the market by storm, but there's already too many other "good enough" options out there, and price is a big factor. When you have a selection of devices that look essentially the same, yet some are drastically cheaper, price becomes an important deciding factor. These are main consumers that don't really understand the full depth of what these devices can do, nor do they need to.
 
MacFather said:
When will Apple’s Board of Directors realize that Tim Cook’s greed is a threat to this company in a long-term?
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I don’t think they mind. Since they released the Apple Watch, they seem to liken themselves as a luxury brand. When the relative profit margins are so high you don’t have to sell that many phones compared to others. It’s like they’re happily purging the people that aren’t going to just spend on everything and anything.

If you’re full in on Apple, which many people are, you’re going to be replacing an iPhone, iPad, AirPods, watch, dongles/chargers, MacBook, iMac every now and then. That’s a lot of profit coming in from one person.

All of which is fine, it’s not like there aren’t any alternatives.
 
Gaprofitt said:
I went Android long ago, not locked into the Apple ecosystem, better hardware and features. I now have the Huawei Mate Pro 20. 40 megapixel camera, 3 lenses including ultrawide, inbuilt fingerprint and face ID, bigger battery. Long ago being locked into Apple's world made sense, because the tech was so much better. Those days have left long ago.
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I had the 3G, 4, and 4s. Since the 4s I have bought a new android phone every year and have never paid more than $200, most of the time I just get the phone for free. I use to be all in with Apple but now the only Apple product that I still use is my 2012 Macbook Air. I got rid of my iMacs, iPads, Mac minis, and ATVs years ago for better solutions at a fraction of the cost.
 
Cumlitave economic impact today. Everyone raising prices. End of the day, many are starting to feel the only $10 a month impact. The first thing to go, the want’s items on the list. The old phone, TV, laptop, looking better, keep them a little longer. Timing for Apples price increases may not have been well thought out.
 
coolfactor said:
I was eligible for a device upgrade from my provider (Bell in Canada) after two years with an SE. The XR (64GB version) was offered for free, although I did have to change my plan. The end result was just a $15 increase over what I was paying before. Still expensive overall, but I walked out of there with a brand new XR at no up-front cost.

While there, I talked to one of the sales associates that told me about his journey of switching from Android, to iPhone, back to Android, as if the operating system doesn't matter. He talked about how Android's "openness" was attractive to him. To each his own, I guess.
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Zero upfront but I bet your monthly plan is a fortune.
 
Great to hear! No way in hell I'd pay $1K+ for a phone! This is why I always buy third-party and save $300 or more.
 
I wish Apple would cut prices rather than cut production numbers.

High priced devices may plump up profits, but it’s eroding market share and that will come back to bite in the long run.

The retina MacBook Air is an example of this too. It’s priced about $150 higher than where it should be.
 
Reason077 said:
High priced devices may plump up profits, but it’s eroding market share and that will come back to bite in the long run.
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I think it is actually creating a sustainable business for the long run. It discourages overconsumption. Selling lots of poor quality stuff that's cheap would be akin to killing the goose that laid golden eggs--Apple would lose its brand cachet.
 
An Important Quote from Luca Maestri, AAPL's CFO, @ AAPL's last Earnings Conference Call:

"I've given the rationale on why we do not believe that providing unit sales is particularly relevant for our company at this point.

I can reassure you that it is our objective to grow unit sales for every product category that we have.

But, as I said earlier, you know, a unit of sale is less relevant today than it was in the past."


One Interpretation:

"We Over Played our Hand when we decided to move our iPhone product line so upscale, most who wanted a XS or XS Max now have one, & the XR never really got off the ground, so things don't look so Rosy moving forward ... to Cover Our Asses, we've decided NOT to provide iPhone units moving forward, at least until we can correct this mess ! ... hopefully NO one figures this out."
 
Act3 said:
Asking their suppliers to reduce demand by as much as 30% is a great strategy for their stock price? Sounds like they need to hire some folks that can better forecast their sales. This is at least second year in a row we've had reports about cutting back suppliers. Maybe get it right the first time and we wouldn't have this negative news which is tanking the market today. Similar things year after year. In the past, it would take weeks to find iPhone models in stock, now we have an abundance, yet the price keeps going up. Overstock usually means drop the price to compensate.
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Who said Apple actually asked their suppliers to reduce orders or that it means anything for demand?

It's a great strategy for a group to manipulate the stock, which is kind of the point I made.

You don't understand how Apple works if you think these reports and Apple's internal team have anything to do with each other. Apple meets or exceeds their own guidance, consistently, and they NEVER forecast unit sales for any single product. Apple guides for revenue for the entire company and Gross Margins. THAT IS IT.

Apple guided for up to $93B in sales in 90 days, so if you think that's struggling, I'd love to see what stocks you own that are better.

Apple never hasn't revised guidance in years, so this has nothing to do with "getting it right the first time."

Do you understand this is all speculation by analysts and news outlets trying to get clicks? THIS IS NOT based on any fact, whatsoever.
 
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.
 
run1976 said:
The original iPhone was a flagship. The xs Max is the right comparison to make. And there you go: price almost doubled in 11 years. That is well above inflation rates.
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I don’t agree. It was the only phone offered at the time so of course it’s a flagship but that doesn’t mean you can compare that and only that to the max. This article wasn’t about them cutting production on the max, it’s about cutting production on the XS and XR dude to lack of demand which people are complaining about price which is the leading cause. I’m sorry but $750 is very resonable for an iPhone or ANY with those specs.
 
Shocker! Profits sharply rising, sales of iPhones and iMacs falling, and less demand. It's because their already inflated margins have gotten even worse. They are ripping people off with their 1k+ phones. I hope people rebuke this notion of paying so much for a phone that doesn't do anything more than their previous models, and yet still less than other competitors devices.
 
2ilent8cho said:
Need to cut the price, not the orders.
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Can't agree more. Apple's insane profit margins need rethinking.

They have so much money now, perhaps they could look at throwing customers a bone.

At least make an 'SE' iPhone and drop the prices on the Macs, (SSD upgrade pricing especially).
 
coolfactor said:
You've got blinders on, my friend. I encourage you to open your eyes. The Apple experience (hardware and software) and cross-device usage is still superior. But you'd need to be looking at it from a pure productivity standpoint, not as a nice-to-have gadget in your pocket.
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I see how it could happen. The XR is an amazing device, alongside the XS. I suspect Apple thought would take the market by storm, but there's already too many other "good enough" options out there, and price is a big factor. When you have a selection of devices that look essentially the same, yet some are drastically cheaper, price becomes an important deciding factor. These are main consumers that don't really understand the full depth of what these devices can do, nor do they need to.
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Apple's biggest issue is that its software can't keep up with its hardware. It has, by far, the fastest devices, with screens, speakers and cameras that are top tier. Its FaceID is way beyond what others have. Yet, the software doesn't use the speed. This is pretty obvious on the iPad, but it's also true on the iPhone. I just moved from an iPhone 7 to XS, and I honestly did not notice any difference in speed for anything I do. (If I had it to do again, I'd have kept the iPhone 7.) Everything is already fast, and there is no new software that's using all that power. Think about a world where there was some really useful phone software that only an iPhone was fast enough to use.

At this point, privacy is Apple's biggest selling point for me. The prices, though, leave an increasingly sour taste, when I know, bar privacy, that a Samsung phone would work almost as well.
 
I find it interesting that so many people say iOS is better but won't pay for it. They want Apple to set the price of their flagships to be lower than Samsung's flagships. Why should apple do that when people already said iOS is better.
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Krizoitz said:
It doesn’t. Unless you think all it costs to make a phone is to buy the parts.

Which means you think R&D costs $0
And shipping.
And marketing.
And paying retail staff.
And software engineers.
And testers.
The list goes on.

But sure, it’s costs $400 cause some random website says that’s how much the parts cost. Gotta love that “logic”
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When apple sells so many iPhone each year, the r&d cost spread out over those phones make the cost of r and d probably less than $1 each phone.
 
Baymowe335 said:
"Apple Shares fall after Reports of cuts to iPhone 6s & 6Plus" Jan 2016

"Apple cuts iPhone7 Production amid Fading Demand" Dec 16

"Rumour claims Apple cuts Production of iPhone8" Oct 17

Rinse and Repeat.
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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.
 
Apple needs to lower their prices or die a slow death. Their prices have always been high, but they are completely out of control lately. It has become obvious, even to the most loyal Apple customers, that there is no real value being added to the products for these most recent price hikes. It has become quite clear, to nearly everyone, that Apple is taking advantage of its loyal customer base to prop up its margins. What other company responds to slowing product sales by RAISING prices?!? No other company on Earth could get away with that! That goes against every economic business principle ever written. That strategy is not going to work long-term and will eventually bite them on their rear. It’s just a matter of time.

A little innovation coming from Cupertino wouldn’t hurt, either. There seems to be an innovation void now that seven years have passed since Steve had control of Apple’s helm. It makes me uneasy to see my favorite tech company being run into the ground by a bean counter. Sad stuff, for sure.
 
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