Apple is set to halve its iPhone X production target for the first quarter to around 20 million units in view of weaker than expected sales over the holiday season, reports Japan’s Nikkei. Although the USD 999 device was the best-shipping smartphone in the fourth quarter, selling some 29 million units according to Canalys, the figures were slightly below industry expectations in key markets such as Europe, the US and China.
The report said rising inventories appear to have pushed the company to sharply slow production, with Samsung currently the only company that can guarantee a steady supply of OLED panels for the screens. The production cuts for the iPhone X will in turn have a domino effect on manufacturers that supply high-performance components for the handset, with the combined impact expected to run into billions of dollars for the January-March quarter alone.
Apple is expected to maintain a total production target of 30 million units for lower-priced models such as the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, added the report.
