Apple Stock (APPL) Dips Amid Report Claiming 2018 iPhone X Orders Are Down 20 Percent
Apple shares (NASDAQ:AAPL) have taken a hit on Friday’s intraday, going down as low as $190.00 per share at one point during the day’s trading. The dip in Apple’s stock comes as reports emerge stating that orders for the 2018 iPhone series are down 20 percent compared to last year.
A report from Nikkei Asian Review recently revealed that Apple had asked its supply chain to prepare roughly 20 percent fewer components for its smartphones this 2018. The 20 percent drop will reportedly be distributed across the company’s three new iPhone offerings this year — the 5.8-inch 2018 iPhone X, the 6.5-inch 2018 iPhone X Plus, and the 6.1-inch LCD-equipped iPhone. According to the business publication, Apple’s orders from its suppliers hit 100 million last year. This 2018, however, the Cupertino-based tech giant opted for a more conservative 80 million.
“Apple is quite conservative in terms of placing new orders for upcoming iPhones this year. For the three new models specifically, the total planned capacity could be up to 20 percent fewer than last year’s orders,” a source familiar with the matter told the Review.
Apple, for its part, has declined to issue a comment regarding the matter.
The latest news comes as the latest blow to Apple’s iPhone business. Earlier this year, after all, several reports emerged alleging that the sales of the iPhone X — the company’s priciest, most advanced smartphone to date — have been rather underwhelming. While the iPhone X performed well in other territories such as China, the overall sales of the smartphone were reportedly less than Apple expected.
Ming-Chi Kuo, 2018 iPhone Pricing:
5.8" OLED iPhone X $800-$900
6.5" OLED iPhone X Plus $900-$1,000
6.1" LCD iPhone $600-$700 pic.twitter.com/9yjwJh8tUu— Ben Geskin (@BenGeskin) June 4, 2018
If there’s any good news from Nikkei‘s recent report, however, it is its apparent confirmation that Apple’s entire iPhone lineup this year will indeed adopt the iPhone X’s edge-to-edge display and notched design. Over the past years, Apple’s devices such as the iPhone 7 Plus and the iPhone 8 Plus were received with critical eyes due to their outdated design compared to rivals like the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S9. With the iPhone X, however, Apple has caught up in the design department, even starting a trend of bezel-less, notched smartphones among its Android competitors.
As noted in a BGR report, all of the iPhones that are up for release this year will not only share in the iPhone X’s eye-catching design; all three will also boast fairly similar features such as Face ID. With this in mind, even buyers of the “budget” 6.1-inch LCD iPhone would be able to experience some of the flagship features of its more expensive brethren.
As of writing, AAPL shares are down 1.07 percent at $191.39 per share.
Disclosure: I have no ownership in shares of AAPL and have no plans to initiate any positions within 72 hours.
