Citing supply chain partners, Nikkei on Tuesday claimed Apple has once again cut iPhone production, this time by another 10% for the January to March 2019 quarter.
The report says Apple has told suppliers that it is reducing orders for the iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max for the calendar first quarter of 2019.
Nikkei, via 9to5Mac:
Production volume in the January-March quarter of 19 is expected to be cut by about 10% from the original plan.
An official said, “Although the range of reductions depends on which model you are producing, it will be about 10% on average.” iPhone production including the old models was estimated to be 47 million to 48 million in January to March, but there is a view that it will remain at around 40 to 43 million.
Nikkei blames the production cuts on “sluggish” iPhone demand in China. (Apple has previously blamed sales woes in China for its worse-than-expected financial numbers for the quarter.)
A November report by the Wall Street Journal said Apple had reduced iPhone orders due to errors in predicting demand for their latest iPhone lineup. If Nikkei is correct, this will be the second production cut in the past few months.