iPhone 5 Demand Dropping? Apple Cuts Down on Part Orders
Demand for the iPhone 5 appears to be dropping as Apple has slashed component orders for the device this quarter.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the company has made this decision due to the weaker-than-expected demand at the start of 2013.
Apple's orders for iPhone 5 displays during the January-March quarter dropped to roughly half of what the company had previously planned to purchase, according to The Wall Street Journal's sources.
The company has also cut down orders for other components as well and notified its suppliers of this decision last month.
Other recent reports have pointed to Apple releasing its next-generation iPhone in the middle of this year and that the company would also launch a cheaper version of the handset in order to target markets in China and India.
This could be another reason why Apple has cut down on ordering parts for the new iPhone, as the company could be working on releasing a beefed up version of the device.
However, this is still a bit scary for Apple as the iPhone 5 is just four months old and the demand has already dropped. The slashing of production is sure to have the company, investors, and others close to the situation concerned.
The drop in iPhone demand could also be attributed to Apple's aggressive competitors such as Samsung that was able to capture the world's largest smartphone vendor by market share. The demand for cheaper smartphones is also growing at a rapid pace in markets such as China.
Apple's worldwide smartphone shipments also dropped significantly in Q3 2012 to 14.6 percent, down from 23 percent in Q4 2011, and Q1 2012.
