Apple Slashes iPhone 5 Part Orders Due to Weak Demand

[dampfnudel]

It should be interesting to see the iPhone 5 numbers when they come out. If it does worse than the 4S, could this accelerate plans for a redesign? If the numbers are weak, I can't say I'm surprised with the lukewarm response with the iPhone 5 design, which is like a less than exciting evolution of the 4/4S design. We'll see what's really going on here when more data comes in. As some have mentioned, it could also be a iOS problem.

 

[KPOM]

You are out of luck then because those two companies offer the best in mobile. Apple is out of its league and can't stay on the same field with Samsung and Google. They were a bully and picked a fight they can't win.

Samsung should stick to making washing machines and being a parts supplier. If not for Apple they would have nothing to copy. Google is evil. I refuse to give them any more of my personal data than I need to. I may even switch to Bing.

 

[JayJayAbels]

Apple is AB... SO... LUTE... LY... fine.

And you'll see JUST how fine they are come the 23rd of this month.

News like this adds just the right emotional angle to help weed out the weak short term investors.

 

[mrsir2009]

Wow, we can use the phrase "Apple's doomed" without the "" face in this article.

 

[hakime]

You obviously haven't used a Samsung phone...there's nothing cheap about it. Whether you like it or not, the screen is of tremendous quality and it's a much better device in just about every conceivable way.

Like I said earlier, 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.

Nothing cheap about it? The pentile screen, the plastic case, the bulky and thick design, the slow graphics. Should I continue? No? So go to spread your crap somewhere else. There is nothing inventive in a Samsung phone, the galaxy s 3 is just a bigger galaxy s 2. Nothing else.

Android phones have nothing interesting besides being unbalanced products. Those 1080 screens are just marketing as all those phones have terrible battery performance and terrible performance in graphics. You like the iPhone or not, you can't deny that it's a great balanced phone which has the right screen size, performances and battery life which fit a thin and light design. Those giant android phones are stupid, just stupid bricks.

And for this WSJ report, this is BS because it says nothing? As long as they don't say by how much the part orders have been decreasing, their report says nothing. And the WSJ has been spreading fud on Apple for a while now.

 

[KPOM]

It should be interesting to see the iPhone 5 numbers when they come out. If it does worse than the 4S, could this accelerate plans for a redesign? If the numbers are weak, I can't say I'm surprised with the lukewarm response with the iPhone 5 design, which is like a less than exciting evolution of the 4/4S design. We'll see what's really going on here when more data comes in.

I don't get it. The 5 was a much bigger update than the 4S, which was basically just a processor refresh. The 5 gave us LTE, a bigger screen, a new design, and better battery life, all in a lighter package.

 

[akbarali.ch]

Hope not, hate gs111 screen size.

Not as gigantic as s3, but 4.5 with reduced bezel will be awesome, believe me, but with REDUCED BEZEL. I still want to use the phone with one please.

 

[jon3543]

It's Sunday night, so neg neg neg, spin spin spin, and certainly to some extent, lie lie lie.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/apple-cuts-lcd-panel-orders-033840179.html

(Reuters) - Apple Inc has almost halved its order with suppliers of LCD panels for the iPhone 5 in the current quarter due to weak demand, the Nikkei reported on Monday.

Apple has asked suppliers Japan Display Inc, Sharp Corp and South Korean company LG Display Co Ltd, to cut supply, down from an initial plan to order about 65 million units in the quarter, the Japanese daily said.

 

[Phrygian]

Iphones issue is software, not hardware related.

anyone crying about "scuffing issues" is an idiot quite frankly.

Also, i was skeptical about the "taller" design, but frankly i like the 5 screen much better than the previous sizes. Switching back to a 4 seems to small now.


... just make a significant software update to ios.

 

[Patriot24]

We're lacking a lot of context here.

Slashed from what to what?
Define "weak"?
How many units have been sold to date since launch compared to previous iterations?
What does the near future product release schedule look like?
iOS is reportedly gaining market share in the US, but the iPhone 5 is a flop?
Are Android and Windows Phone sales trending upward relative to iPhone?
Is the iPad mini canibalizing new iPhone sales?

Apple knows the answers to all of these questions and more. Time will tell if this is as serious as we've been made to believe.

 

[blackhand1001]

When are people gonna remember that Apple's vision is to NEVER make cheap products to compete with other companies, but to make GREAT products (at all costs) to please the consumers?

I'm very skeptical of a cheap iPhone coming any time soon.

Considering it only costs them 200 to make the iphone and they charge 650 for they could cut the margins down a bit.

 

[sfjava]

Wow...you are either a toddler, or your clothes look really weird on you! The dumbest argument out there is that the GS3 won't fit in your pocket! I carry the Note 2 and while, admittedly, it's big, it fits just fine in my pants pocket.

Yeah cargo pant.

 

[468837]

Third post, sorry. Another factor: after being allowed to upgrade yearly on AT&T, I'm stuck on 18 months with VZW. I don't *have* to have the latest device, but what if the current model is a dog? I'm hesitant, all things considered, of looking myself into a 2 year contract right now. At least before I could get out of the device after 1 year.

 

[blackhand1001]

Samsung should stick to making washing machines and being a parts supplier. If not for Apple they would have nothing to copy. Google is evil. I refuse to give them any more of my personal data than I need to. I may even switch to Bing.

Samsungs been making phones for decades longer than apple. In fact they have been making smartphones for much longer too.

 

[lilo777]

Like what? A polycarbonate case and worse battery life?

Barometer, 2x RAM, NFC, more memory (via memory card support), wireless charging, higher resolution screen, additional baseband chip (allowing SGSIII to do simultaneous voice and data on Verizon). Perhaps more importantly - much more evolved mobile OS with features like file system and ability to run multiple apps on the screen simultaneously.

 

[H. Flower]

- Apple has to start releasing upgrades at least twice a year - once a year may have worked 5 years ago but the market is obviously way too competitive now. A year is virtually a lifetime for a product cycle in mobile devices.

- They are going to have to release an iPhone "maxi" to win back marketshare. I personally wouldn't want one, but this isn't about you or me - it's about what a sizable chunk of the market wants.

- Steve was a genius but he was wrong to go "thermonuclear" on google. Did he really think Apple could possibly monopolize touchscreen mobile devices? This violates the laws of nature, and this stubborn sentiment hurt a fruitful relationship.

 

[irDigital0l]

iOS is reportedly gaining market share in the US, but the iPhone 5 is a flop?

iOS is not gaining in the overall marketshare in the US.

Yes, iOS did exceed Android during Sep/Oct due to the release of iPhone 5 and iOS 6.

 

[sfjava]

It's Sunday night, so neg neg neg, spin spin spin, and certainly to some extent, lie lie lie.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/apple-cuts-lcd-panel-orders-033840179.html

izgo screen will come sooner to ip5?

 

[JS82712]

Don't you mean that "Android devices are flying off the shelves like hotcakes!" ?

Manufacturers wouldn't be making Android devices if they weren't selling - even on an Apple forum you're allowed to exercise common sense.

They may be selling like hotcakes, but you can be sure that it's not because those devices are awesome or innovative in any way.

Look at the statistics that show web activities and real-world usage, android users dont do very much with their device.

 

[iZac]

Prepping for iPhone mini release in March / April?

 

[blackhand1001]

Like what? A polycarbonate case and worse battery life?

In real world use the galaxy s3 gets better battery life. No one actually gets the 10 hours of lte browsing these synthetic benchmarks produce. They get much closer to 4:30 to 5 hours. The Galaxy s3 also has almost twice the talk time.

 

[Ent]

I am slowly starting to move in this direction. I remember when Apple started slashing the pricing of the iMacs a hundred dollars or so with every new iteration. That made it VERY competitive with PC offerings.

Cook could do the same thing here.

Or, increase the base size to 32gb, and make a line-up up to 128gb

 

[Agent-P]

My opinion is that a major reason for this is because of iOS. The reason I left the iPhone was because iOS wasn't doing anything special for me. I got myself a Windows Phone and I haven't looked back. Don't get me wrong, part of me wants Apple to do something really cool with iOS7 to change things up so I have an excuse to come back, but for now I'm happy as is.

 

[irDigital0l]

Prepping for iPhone mini release in March / April?

Compete directly with the Galaxy SIV.

 

[lilo777]

They may be selling like hotcakes, but you can be sure that it's not because those devices are awesome or innovative in any way.

Look at the statistics that show web activities and real-world usage, android users dont do very much with their device.

Does iCloud count as "web activity"? Because Apple made everything possible to force people to use their cloud. On Android, one can use memory card to copy files, on iOS one has to get very creative with DropBox or some other web based solution.