Nikkei: Apple Cut Its iPhone Supply Orders In Half

The Nikkei is reporting (via Reuters) Apple asked its LCD panel partners to cut orders for iPhone screens in half from 65 million in the March quarter.

This sounds not so believable.

Apple is expected to sell ~48 million iPhones in the December quarter. If it meets that expectation it would be Apple's best ever iPhone quarter. Yet, somehow Apple was putting in an order for a giant sequential increase?

The new order number of 32.25 million sounds more reasonable. (We can't find a consensus number for the March quarter.) But we find it hard to believe Apple cut its orders in half.

Assuming Apple didn't cut its orders in half, it's harder to figure out what's happening here.

We believe Apple has cut its orders. The Nikkei, the WSJ, Jefferies, Citi, and many others, have reported on supply chain cuts from Apple. The reason remains unclear for the cuts. While the WSJ and Nikkei are quick to blame weak demand, early indication is that holiday demand for the iPhone was just fine.

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