Since hitting store shelves a little more than a week ago, Apple’s iPhone XR has garnered overwhelmingly positive reviews. Sporting a nearly edge-to-edge display at a price point that is drastically lower than Apple’s iPhone XS models, many analysts have been predicting that the iPhone XR will be a runaway hit this holiday shopping season.
Throwing some cold water on that idea is a new report from Nikkei which claims that Apple is reducing iPhone XR production due to lower than anticipated demand. The report specifically relays that Apple recently told manufacturing partners Foxconn and Pegatron not to add additional production lines as initially planned.
One source who claims to be familiar with iPhone XR production told the publication that Foxconn initially prepared 60 assembly lines for the iPhone XR but only uses about 45. All told, Nikkei’s source claims that overall iPhone XR production may be anywhere from 20% to 25% lower than initial estimates.
Per usual, you might want to take Nikkei’s report with a grain of salt, especially in light of analyst Ming-Chi Kuo’s recent investor note detailing how iPhone XR sales in the holiday quarter may reach as high as 38 million units. It’s also worth noting that Jim Cramer on CNBC earlier today said that the Nikkei report is bogus and “complete nonsense.”
Now usually, we would simply have to wait until January when Apple releases its earnings report to get some insight into overall iPhone sales and the veracity of Nikkei’s report. But Apple last week, if you recall, announced that they would no longer disclose iPhone sales as part of their quarterly reports.
