Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) has reportedly told Taiwanese suppliers Foxconn and Pegatron to halt plans for additional production of the iPhone XR, which just reached shelves last month.
“For the Foxconn side, it first prepared nearly 60 assembly lines for Apple’s XR model, but recently uses only around 45 production lines as its top customer said it does not need to manufacture that many by now,” a source told the Nikkei.
Supply chain sources also told the Nikkei that iPhone assembler Wistron had not received orders for the iPhone XR this season, but was told to stand by for rush orders.
Apple is reportedly requesting more of the older iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus models instead, which are cheaper than the XR.
The iPhone XR, ranging in price from $749 to $899, was introduced at Apple’s launch event in September. In comparison, the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus cost between $599 and $849.
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It’s not the first time Apple has slashed production soon after a release. The company executed a similar move five years ago with its plastic-encased iPhone 5C.
The tech giant recently missed on iPhone sales in its fourth-quarter results and gave investors a heads up that holiday sales may also fall short of analyst expectations.
Neither Apple nor the suppliers have commented on the report.
Shares of Apple were down more than 2% to $203.32 in Monday morning trading.
Contact Lenore Fedow at lenore@proactiveinvestors.com
Follow her on Twitter: @LenoreMariee