Apple and Suppliers Fall After Report of Lower iPhone 8 Orders

Shares of Apple and some of its suppliers fell on signs that demand for the new iPhone 8 models isn’t as strong as anticipated while buyers await the release of the higher-end iPhone X, according to Bloomberg.

The Taipei-based Economic Daily News reported that Apple cut orders for its latest model, which went on sale last month, by more than 50 percent. The newspaper didn’t identify its source or elaborate on what sort of orders had been pulled, or how it arrived at that number. An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment.

AT&T’s customers upgraded 900,000 fewer handsets in the three months through September than a year earlier, it said in a regulatory filing. The trend hints at customers waiting for the flagship iPhone X to buy a new phone. Many analysts already expected that the iPhone 8 would be overshadowed by stronger demand for iPhone X, which is scheduled to be released next month. But investors are sensitive to any potential demand weakness for Apple products.

Earlier reports have also flagged weak demand for the iPhone 8, though investors are mostly expecting a sales surge from the high-end iPhone X when it becomes available Nov. 3. With its $999 price tag, the iPhone X will do more to help boost Apple’s margins. The top-of-the-line model includes a facial recognition system that uses a 3-D scanner to unlock the handset, replacing the fingerprint sensor in the iPhone 8 and other earlier versions.

Apple forecast total sales of $49 billion to $52 billion in the three months through September, a projection investors understood to signal resilient iPhone demand that could also carry over into the December quarter, given the staggered phone release dates. Analysts see total sales in the holiday quarter jumping 10 percent to $87 billion.