According to several sources cited by Bloomberg, the company has asked its suppliers not to increase the assembly of the product line. This rumor comes as the company Apple has just expressed its intention to produce the new iPhone 14 in India.
U.S.-based Apple is backtracking on plans to increase production of the new iPhone 14 this year because there has been no expected increase in demand for the model, Bloomberg reported Wednesday.
Specifically, the electronics manufacturer reportedly asked its suppliers not to increase assembly of the iPhone 14 product family to six million units in the second half of this year.
The people who made this report, without revealing their identity, point out that the California company is aiming to produce 90 million phones for this period, about the same level as last year, and in line with Apple’s initial forecast for this summer.
They also claim that demand for the iPhone 14 Pro is higher than for its cheaper versions. In this regard, they detail that, in at least one case, an Apple supplier chooses to increase production of the most expensive model of the smartphone at the expense of its cheaper versions.
Following the news, the tech giant’s shares fell 3.3%. At the same time, the value of futures contracts on the Nasdaq-100, the U.S. stock index focused on the technology industry, fell by 1.5 percent.
The world’s largest smartphone market, China, is experiencing an economic slowdown that has affected domestic mobile device manufacturers and iPhone sales. In fact, according to analysts at Jefferies Group, iPhone 14 purchases in the first three days of availability in the Asian country were 11 percent lower than its predecessor a year earlier.
Global demand for personal electronics has also been dampened by rising inflation and recession fears, among other reasons. The smartphone market is expected to shrink 6.5 percent in 2022 to 1.27 billion units, according to market tracking firm IDC.
