Apple had grand plans when it lifted the veil off the iPhone 14 series, the latest generation of its flagship smartphones, earlier this month. However, when reality failed to reflect the rise in demand, the Cupertino-headquartered powerhouse has reportedly asked its suppliers to pull back on earlier plans to increase the production of the iPhone 14 lineup.
According to a Bloomberg report, Apple has apparently told its suppliers to cut down on their work to increase the production of the iPhone 14 smartphones by as many as 6 million units in the second half of the year. The company’s shares fell by 4% in premarket trading on Wednesday after the report was published to be currently trading at $146.84.
A few weeks ago, Apple revealed the base iPhone 14 Model, the iPhone 14 Plus (which replaced the iPhone Mini), the iPhone 14 Pro, and the iPhone 14 Pro Max. The smartphones come with enhanced A15 bionic chipsets and a stronger A16 bionic chip (for the Pro models). While the base iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus come at $799 and $899 respectively, the Pro models start at $999 and $1099 respectively. In the weeks before the release of the iPhone 14 lineup, some of Apple’s suppliers had started making preparations for an increase in orders.
Now, it seems that the demand for the iPhone 14 series is not as much as Apple had hoped for – hence, the curtail the efforts to increase production. What is interesting is that the demand for the iPhone 14 Pro models – which come with more features and burn a bigger hole in your pockets – exceeds that of the entry-level versions. Bloomberg reported that at least one Apple supplier was shifting their production capacity from the lower-priced iPhone devices to the costlier, premium models.
With its new and adjusted production targets, the behemoth will look to produce 90 million units in the period. This amount is almost the same as the number of handsets produced last year, when Apple announced the iPhone 13 lineup, and adds up to what Luca Maestri, Senior VP and CFO, Apple, had said earlier this year. At that time, he warned that factors such as the Russia-Ukraine war and Apple’s subsequent halt in sales in Russia would prove to have a deeper adverse effect on sales in the fiscal third quarter. Other factors for this drop in demand include rising rates of inflation and fears of an economic recession.
