Apple tells suppliers demand for iPhone 13 lineup has weakened

(Reuters) – Apple Inc (NASDAQ:) has told its parts suppliers that demand for the iPhone 13 lineup has slowed, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter, signaling that some consumers have decided against acquiring the hard-to-find item.

The company had cut production of iPhone 13 by as many as 10 million units, down from a target of 90 million, due to a global chip shortage, but now it has informed vendors that even those orders may not materialize, the report said.

Apple’s shares fell about 2% in premarket trading, while shares of iPhone component and semiconductor suppliers Qualcomm (NASDAQ:), Skyworks (NASDAQ:), Europe’s ASML and Infineon (OTC:) were also down.

The holiday season is Apple’s biggest quarter in terms of revenue and a test for consumers’ interest in the company’s latest iPhones and MacBooks.

Analysts had expected demand to remain steady shortly for new products, but they lowered shipping estimates as supply chain issues burdened phone makers, with many retail partners warning about product shortages ahead of the holiday shopping season.

Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook warned in October that the impact of supply constraints, which cost the company $6 billion in sales in the fourth quarter and was affecting most of the company’s products, will be worse during the holiday quarter even as demand for the new lineup was robust.

Apple and its suppliers 3M Co, Broadcom (NASDAQ:) Inc and Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:) Inc did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comments.

The global chip crunch, initially due to high demand for smartphones and personal gadgets during the coronavirus pandemic, has affected the auto industry and disrupted production at companies ranging from Apple to GM.

reported last month that Apple had cut back production of iPad tablets to allocate more components to iPhone 13.