Sankei Biz, a Japanese newspaper has put a shiver down the spine of Apple stock holders after reporting that the California technology giant has cut order for LCD panel to Japanese manufacturer Sharp in half. The reduction has been brougth about because Apple is facing iPhone 5 sales that are below expectations. In the past several days this piece of news is the second one that has indicated Apple iPhone 5 and other products are facing a slow down in sales. Previously, Reuters had broken the news that Sharp had also cut production of 9.7 inch panels used in Apples popular iPad tablet.
The Wall Street Journal also had an article about indicators that showed trouble at Apple. The newspaper reported that Apple had slowed orders for component relating the iPhone 5 that was launched in September. Once again weak demand was pointed to as the culprit. The report stated that Apple cut iPhone 5 screens in half for the first quarter of 2013. The article also mentioned that other components saw similar cuts.
Some analysts believe that the drop in orders is not due to weak demand. They believe that Apple has other reasons for its actions including improved manufacturing yields. This is a possibility because Apples extremely popular product had faced production problem earlier but those were quickly resolved and may have increased efficiency. Another explanation is that consumers are waiting for the new iPhone to arrive in June or July to make a purchase. Many thought that the latest iPhone5 did not bring enough new changes to entice a lot of buyers.
Sharp and Apple have not made a statement after the news story hit and many expect a clearer picture when Apple reports first quarter fiscal results on January 23.
Source: TechCrunch
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