iPhone shipments could be much lower than expected this quarter, according to a new report
A new report from Digi-Times claims that shipments could be down as much as 5-10% on original expectations in fourth quarter of 2015, according to sources from Apple's supply chain in Taiwan.
Digi-Times doesn't have a perfect track record - it has been wrong about Apple rumours before.
But there's a mounting body of evidence to suggest that Apple is seeing an unprecedented weakness for demand for the iPhone.
Analysts from Morgan Stanley, Stifel, Baird, and Credit Suisse all believe that iPhone sales will drop in 2016 year-on-year - something that has never happened before.
A research note by Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty in December said the bank expects unit sales of the iPhone to decline in Apple's 2016 financial year by nearly 6% (that is the equivalent of 2.9% in the 2016 calendar year). Meanwhile, Credit Suisse said earlier this month that it is lowering its estimate for calendar year 2016 iPhone sales to 214 million - 8 million less than its earlier prediction, and even less than Morgan Stanley's 224 million CY2016 prediction.
Credit Suisse says its Asian research team is detecting "a deeper cut in December and March production volumes. The cuts seem to be driven by weak demand for the new iPhone 6s, as overall builds are now estimated to be below 75-80mn units for the December quarter and between 45-50mn units for the March quarter."
Digi-Times is even reporting that some Apple suppliers have cut overtime shifts due to low demand.