Apple is cutting fourth-quarter orders for its new iPhone 5c from assemblers in Taiwan, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.
Pegatron Corp. was told orders would be reduced by less than 20 percent and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. was informed orders would be cut by a third, the Journal said, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter. One component supplier was notified of a 50 percent cut in orders for parts, the newspaper reported.
Apple, the world’s most-valuable technology company, began selling the iPhone 5c last month on the same day its more expensive iPhone 5s went on sale. The cheaper handset is a reconfigured version of last year’s device with a plastic casing that comes in five colors.
Kuo Mingchi, an analyst at KGI Securities Co. in Taipei, on Oct. 11 cut his estimate for fourth-quarter shipments of the 5c by 33 percent, citing weak orders. Chinese technology news website CTech on Oct. 10 reported that production had been halved, citing people close to the manufacturers which it didn’t identify.
Simon Hsing, a spokesman for Hon Hai, and Charles Lin, chief financial officer at Pegatron, both declined to comment on customer orders. Takashi Takebayashi, a Tokyo-based spokesman for Apple, didn’t immediately return a telephone call seeking comment.
The iPhone 5c began U.S. sales on Sept. 20 with a suggested price of $99 for a 16-gigabyte model with a service contract.
