Samsung to Slash OLED Panel Production on 'Weak Demand' for iPhone X, Claims Nikkei

[MacRumors]

Samsung plans to slash its OLED panel output in response to Apple's decision to cut production of iPhone X due to "weak demand", the Nikkei Asian Review reported on Tuesday. Samsung will make OLED panels for 20 million fewer iPhones at its South Chungcheong plant in the January to March quarter, a lot lower than its original goal of supplying panels for 45 million to 50 million iPhones, according to the paper.

Samsung is said to have made a 13.5 trillion won ($12.6 billion) capital investment in anticipation of the originally expected number of OLED panel orders from Apple. The new target reportedly reduces plant production to roughly 60 percent of original forecasts, and Samsung's display business is expected to suffer revenue declines for the first half of 2018. Samsung stock fell as much as 2.3 percent in morning trade, reported Reuters, while shares of some Japanese OLED component makers also declined.

Today's report follows previous claims by Nikkei that "weak demand" for iPhone X has forced Apple to slash its production target by half in the three month period from January. However the claim doesn't tally with Apple's own results reported at its recent quarterly conference call earlier this month, and it's unclear which supply chain sources the publication is relying on. Apple CEO Tim Cook has dismissed these types of reports in the past, suggesting that the company's supply chain is very complex and that any singular data point is not a reliable indicator of what's actually going on.

During its record financial results report for the first fiscal quarter of 2018 (which corresponds to the fourth calendar quarter of 2017), Cook said the iPhone X was the top-selling iPhone model every week since it had debuted in November. iPhone shipments were down 1.2 percent year-over-year compared to the year-ago quarter, but only because of an extra sales week last year - Apple's growth was actually 21 percent year-over-year on an adjusted basis.

Article Link: Samsung to Slash OLED Panel Production on 'Weak Demand' for iPhone X, Claims Nikkei

 

[ImperfectLion]

Whenever I go out, I rarely see people with an iPhone X. Everyone generally has the 6s-8 (they look the same so I don't know which one they have)

I know people have already said this, but if the price went down for the X, then it would sell a lot more.

 

[Mattrg]

Honestly, this should have been the iPhone 8, not a different phone that cost several hundred more.

 

[Nr123*123]

Top selling iPhone since it launched?

As in the period since it launched, compared to iPhones currently being sold?

Or highest selling iPhone of all time?

My opinion is that the X is good, but not revolutionary. The screen to body ratio has been done by other manufacturers. The camera is great, but not the best on the market. FaceID is great from a technology standpoint, but really not a game-changer for the consumer.

Like I’ve said before, you can have the equivalent Samsung for half price (in the UK at least). It does 99% of the things the iPhone does for 50% less.

 

[cocky jeremy]

Top selling iPhone since it launched?

As in the period since it launched, compared to iPhones currently being sold?

Or highest selling iPhone of all time?

My opinion is that the X is good, but not revolutionary. The screen to body ratio has been done by other manufacturers. The camera is great, but not the best on the market. FaceID is great from a technology standpoint, but really not a game-changer for the consumer.

Like I’ve said before, you can have the equivalent Samsung for half price (in the UK at least). It does 99% of the things the iPhone does for 50% less.

There is no Samsung equivalent. I mean, feel free to send me a link to a Samsung phone that natively runs iOS if I'm wrong.

 

[Aluminum213]

Who would’ve thought $1000 phone that does exact same thing as last year wouldn’t sell

 

[RichTF]

FaceID is great from a technology standpoint, but really not a game-changer for the consumer.

Face ID has completely changed how I use my iPhone. It feels like there's no passcode even set, even though it's highly secure. Makes for a totally different flow for just about every interaction. I say this as someone who actually owns an iPhone X and uses it all the time.
[doublepost=1519130004][/doublepost]

Who would’ve thought $1000 phone that does exact same thing as last year wouldn’t sell

Erm, except Apple's financial results show that it's selling very well indeed. Are you suggesting that they're lying to their shareholders?

 

[jav6454]

Expected. The buying season ended and whoever upgraded has already done so. Few people would see value in the X given that the 8 offers almost equal features (sans FaceID and full screen)

 

[BvizioN]

Whenever I go out, I rarely see people with an iPhone X. Everyone generally has the 6s-8 (they look the same so I don't know which one they have)

I thought about this the other day I was in a caffe Nero place and for around 30 minutes I was in saw around 7 people paying with the iPhone X. The rest could have been any of the other 4 versions. At the Aldi supermarket I see them X all time. Just like the Airpods that I have started to see them everywhere.

 

[haruhiko]

Whenever I go out, I rarely see people with an iPhone X. Everyone generally has the 6s-8 (they look the same so I don't know which one they have)

I know people have already said this, but if the price went down for the X, then it would sell a lot more.

Are you comparing a phone model which has only been released for less than 4 months to 4 generations of iPhone (6,6s,7,8)?

In recent months, I have seen iPhone X in the subway in my city nearly every day, and I'm not the kind of person who constantly look at what phone other people use.

 

[The Game 161]

Top selling iPhone since it launched?

As in the period since it launched, compared to iPhones currently being sold?

Or highest selling iPhone of all time?

My opinion is that the X is good, but not revolutionary. The screen to body ratio has been done by other manufacturers. The camera is great, but not the best on the market. FaceID is great from a technology standpoint, but really not a game-changer for the consumer.

Like I’ve said before, you can have the equivalent Samsung for half price (in the UK at least). It does 99% of the things the iPhone does for 50% less.

no it isn't as it doesn't run IOS or work within the ecosystem so you can't compare different brands.
[doublepost=1519130414][/doublepost]

Who would’ve thought $1000 phone that does exact same thing as last year wouldn’t sell

check your records again

It was the highest selling iphone

 

[BvizioN]

Face ID has completely changed how I use my iPhone. It feels like there's no passcode even set, even though it's highly secure. Makes for a totally different flow for just about every interaction.

You try telling that to these who have never used.
By the way, I agree with you.

 

[2979382]

Who would’ve thought $1000 phone that does exact same thing as last year wouldn’t sell

I have an issue with your "exact same thing", because it's factually incorrect. Not saying it's miles better than the previous version but it's definitely better in a number of ways and does more than the iPhone 8.

 

[praterkeith]

Whenever I go out, I rarely see people with an iPhone X. Everyone generally has the 6s-8 (they look the same so I don't know which one they have)

I know people have already said this, but if the price went down for the X, then it would sell a lot more.

I’ve seen one, my manager at work has an X.

 

[Kabeyun]

Like I’ve said before, you can have the equivalent Samsung for half price (in the UK at least). It does 99% of the things the iPhone does for 50% less.

Well, it doesn’t run iOS, is doesn’t integrate as well into the rest of the Apple ecosystem, and it won’t be supported by Apple customer service, which I have found fantastic.

These are critical differences for me and a great many other people.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

Expected. The buying season ended and whoever upgraded has already done so. Few people would see value in the X given that the 8 offers almost equal features (sans FaceID and full screen)

Not true. 8 plus and X are similar, but the 8 plus isn't comfortable for those with smaller hands, so that removes it as a contender for a lot of people. The 8 and the X are worlds apart. The 8 has a good camera but no optical zoom. 8 has a good screen but the X's is larger with almost the same footprint as the 8.

Now whether the X's extra feature are worth the extra cost is worth it to consumers is a consumer choice. We know tens of millions did think it was worth the up-sell based on last quarters iPhone sales and revenue. Clearly the extra cost of the X made up for underwhelming iPhone unit sales as a category.

Personally, the bigger screen hasn't been as big a of "wow" for me as thought. More comfortable, but nothing to rave about. But the camera is amazing. I've taken shots I could never take with my 7 because of the lack of optical zoom. If you value the camera at $150, which is what a half-way decent pocket camera costs, it's easy to justify the increased price. But not everyone cares about having a better camera and a lot of people are waiting for an X plus.

That said, Apple should take the price down a notch OR make the $999 model 128GB rather than 64GB. Given Flash prices of 128 and 64 are fairly close I fail to see how that would hurt margins. It would, however, probably lead to fewer sales of the 256GB model.

 

[apolkowski]

There is no Samsung equivalent. I mean, feel free to send me a link to a Samsung phone that natively runs iOS if I'm wrong.

It is about technology and complexity of design. It is not about fanboys' addiction to one or another OS.

 

[Avieshek]

So, just after the financial results..

Well played Tim, Well Played.

But I don’t understand, isn’t Samsung going to launch Galaxy S9? Sometimes, such news feel like, with the intention of grabbing web-traffic for themselves and nothing else.

 

[Corsig]

I couldn’t go back to another method after using FaceID. The phone was worth it to me and I’m fine being an early adopter. Everyone will be using it going forward with each new version.

 

[JCCL]

You try telling that to these who have never used.
By the way, I agree with you.

And yet I have my iPhone X for almost 3 months now and yet the thing a despise the most is Face ID. Since my old iPhone 5 I had never entered so much times my passwords!

 

[H3LL5P4WN]

I don't get it. I actually see more X's in the wild now than I do (what I can verify as) 8s and * Pluses.

Not to put a tinfoil hat on, but maybe this is Sammy trying to squeeze Apple by artificially constraining OLED panel stock?

 

[laz232]

Face ID has completely changed how I use my iPhone.

So... the main use case for your phone is unlocking it?

I sort of get what you are saying, but then again not really, touch ID is fine, I'm sure that Face ID is ok - heck a passcode was pretty ok at the time as well. The amount of time I spend unlocking my device is a miniscule fraction of my use time (listening to podcasts / reading web/wikipedia)

 

[I7guy]

I decided to wait for the x+. I was all set to get the 8+, then the rumors started...

 

[Piggie]

So... the main use case for your phone is unlocking it?

I sort of get what you are saying, but then again not really, touch ID is fine, I'm sure that Face ID is ok - heck a passcode was pretty ok at the time as well.

Indeed, I have to agree, it's like saying how amazing this new car is, based upon how you unlock the door.
That's almost a nothing on the use of a product.

 

[twistedpixel8]

I couldn’t go back to another method after using FaceID. The phone was worth it to me and I’m fine being an early adopter. Everyone will be using it going forward with each new version.

Agreed, and this was a perfect model to start the Apple Upgrade Program with. Given that this was the sort of "beta" of this new iteration of iPhone, it makes sense to take Apple up on the offer of only paying monthly 12 of the 20 months and essentially getting AppleCare+ for free (since you never pay enough to cover it if you upgrade). Then upgrade to this year's model and if it's really good, scrap AppleCare+ (if you want) and just pay off the phone. If it's only a minor bump, continue on the program until 2019 model and once the phone has matured and the quirks (*cough* notch *cough*) are a thing of the past, scrap the program.

It may cost slightly more than just eBaying your iPhone every year but it's a lot less hassle and despite what people say, you are technically getting AppleCare+ for free. If you've seen the eyewatering prices for repairs, that's an absolute must comparative to previous models.