Apple iPhone X suppliers report weak November shipments, and expect this month to be worse

November was apparently a rough month for companies that supply Apple with components for the iPhone X. On a sequential basis (month over month), camera lens manufacturer Largan Precision saw its revenue rise only 0.05%. The company expects to see revenues decline in December. This is a pattern that other iPhone X suppliers are running into. Chassis and casing supplier Catcher saw its November revenue decline 10.4%. The company that provides touch panels, General Interface Solutions, struggled through a month-over-month 15.53% revenue drop in November.

The main problem is that Apple's component orders for last month were 30% lower than previously predicted by Apple. And these companies now fear that Cupertino will cut the number of iPhone X models that it plans on shipping during the first quarter of 2018. Most analysts expect Apple to ship iPhone X units in January and February 2018 at the same rate as it delivered the tenth anniversary model in November. A decline is expected for March. Shipments of the phone are expected to drop overall during the first quarter of 2018 thanks to seasonality, and a fewer number of working days that are a result of the Lunar New Year holidays.

We could see demand for the iPhone X dry up a bit with the recent rumors about a 6.5-inch phablet version of the iPhone said to launch next year. In addition, there might be some consumers waiting for the rumored 2018 iPhone that will be equipped with a 6.1-inch LCD edge-to-edge screen. This model will supposedly be priced in a lower $650 to $900 range,  feature a metal frame and a single camera in back in order to keep costs down. Even though this model will reportedly be the lowest priced version of the three 2018 iPhone handsets, it is still expected to come with Face ID and the TrueDepth Camera.

source: Digitimes