"This Is Very Rare" - Apple Slashes iPhone 8 Supplier Orders By 50% As Demand Dries Up

Following reports this morning that channel checks show iPhone 7 outselling iPhone 8, Taipei-based Economic Daily News reports that orders for iPhone 8 and Plus have been slashed by around 50% for November and December, citing an unidentified official at the supply chain.

As we detailed earlier, a new report by KeyBanc Capital Analyst John Vinh, channel checks have revealed that Apple"s older iPhone 7 models are outselling the recently launched iPhone 8 ahead of the early November debut of the premium iPhone X.

As traditionally new editions of the iPhone have sold quickly as fans queue for the latest upgrade, this time it"s clearly different...

 As pent up demand for the iPhone X is clearly cannibalizing sales, and the surveys add to signs that the iPhone 8 is not proving as popular as its predecessors.

"Many respondents indicated that a meaningful portion of customers are buying iPhone 7 in lieu of the new iPhone 8, given the lack of significant enhancements in the new phone," Vinh wrote in his research report, which relied on channel checks in the United States and United Kingdom.

"Feedback from stores indicate customers are waiting to purchase the iPhone X or to compare the iPhone X before buying the iPhone 8," wrote Vinh, who is rated four out of five stars by Thomson Reuters StarMine for his recommendation accuracy on the Apple stock.

Another reason for the slow uptick of the iPhone 8 could be the modest promotion by U.S. carriers, Vinh said. "While carriers continue to offer promotions for the new iPhone 8, they have been much more modest compared to the iPhone 7 launch last year," he wrote.

Which probably explains why Economic Daily News reports that Apple is now betting all-in on the iPhone X, cutting supplier orders on the iPhone 8 (and 8 Plus) drastically. [via Google Translate]

But the supply chain has said that "this year is quite rare", the new product has just been mass production for about one to three months, was asked to begin to decline, "is the first time in ten years."

Supply chain sources revealed that iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus expectations of 11 - 12 months of shipments of 1 to 1.2 million per month will be substantially reduced, down nearly half of the range, shipment will be only 500-600,000.

So, as we concluded earlier, with Apple bull hopes falling squarely on the shoulders of the iPhone X, a key unknown factor is what the price will be. The much-anticipated iPhone X, a glass and stainless steel device with an edge-to-edge display, will start shipping from Nov. 3 with the 10th-anniversary iPhone priced from $999, Apple"s most expensive mobile till date.