Apple Slashes iPhone 5 Part Orders Due to Weak Demand - MacRumorsOpen MenuShow RoundupsShow Forums menuVisit ForumsOpen Sidebar
Skip to Content

Apple Slashes iPhone 5 Part Orders Due to Weak Demand

by

The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple has slashed component orders for the iPhone 5 this quarter, responding to weaker-than-expected demand.

Apple's orders for iPhone 5 screens for the January-March quarter, for example, have dropped to roughly half of what the company had previously planned to order, two of the people said.

The Cupertino, Calif., company has also cut orders for components other than screens, according to one of the people.

Apple notified the suppliers of the order cut last month, the people said.

There have been reports that Apple is looking to launch its next-generation iPhone in the middle of this year as part of a broader effort to shorten its product update cycles. Apple is reportedly also toying with other changes such as a cheaper version of the iPhone in order to help the company slow the momentum of Android and its leading manufacturers Samsung.

iphone5frontback
It is not unusual for demand, and thus Apple's component orders, to wane in the lead-up to hardware updates, but the iPhone 5 is just four months old, and the slashing of production at this stage of the device's lifecycle is sure to cause concern for the company, its investors, and others closely watching Apple's performance.

Tag: Wall Street Journal
Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

iOS 27 Next to iPhone

Here's When iOS 27 Rolls Out Today in Every Time Zone [Update: It's Out]

Sunday September 13, 2026 3:00 am PDT by
Update 10:04 a.m.: iOS 27 is rolling out now, though it may take a bit for all users to see it, so keep checking! Apple is about to release iOS 27, which will finally deliver more advanced Siri AI capabilities as well as a variety of other refinements, improvements, and new features to iPhones. It's Apple's biggest software update of the year, and Apple announced at Wednesday's iPhone event...
Read Full Article • 152 comments
iOS 27 Icon iPhone

iOS 27 Available Now With These 8 New Features

Monday September 14, 2026 9:00 am PDT by
Update — 10 a.m. Pacific Time: Apple has released iOS 27. During its iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Duo event last week, Apple announced that iOS 27 will be released widely on Monday, September 14. iOS 27 should be available around 10 a.m. Pacific Time / 1 p.m. Eastern Time today via the Settings app, under General → Software Update. Below, we have highlighted eight new features and...
Read Full Article • 111 comments
Apple iCloud Plus expansion hero

iCloud+ Now Includes Apple TV, Apple Arcade, and Curated Apple Music Stations in Over 100 Countries

Tuesday September 15, 2026 1:43 am PDT by
Apple today announced a new subscription initiative that turns paid iCloud+ subscriptions into a broader services bundle in more than 100 countries. In select countries, Apple says every paid iCloud+ plan, including the cheapest 50GB tier, now includes Apple TV and Apple Arcade "at no additional cost," while family sharing extends the storage, TV and Arcade access to up to five people....
Read Full Article • 108 comments

Top Rated Comments

kjs862 Avatar
kjs862
178 months ago
Can thank a stale design and os for this.
Score: 158 Votes (Like | Disagree)
L
Lancetx
178 months ago
Stock manipulation at it's finest, once again. :rolleyes:
Score: 77 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AHDuke99 Avatar
AHDuke99
178 months ago
I need to dump the stock. I don't see it rebounding to $700/share.
Score: 57 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Saladinos Avatar
Saladinos
178 months ago
I'm not surprised.

I usually try to judge these things based on anecdotal evidence, and from that perspective the iPhone 5 is a flop. Of course it depends on my location, place of work and a billion other factors, but in a modern busy city you see a lot of random people with their phones and occasionally you notice one.

I don't tend to see a lot of iPhone 5s around.

Personally, I'm not tempted to buy one, either. The iPhone today does basically the same things the iPhone 4 did, just faster. The iPhone 4 was as big of a shake-up as the iPhone's had since launch (and even then it was a new case and faster internals).

There hasn't been anything revolutionary. Nothing that really pushes the device to the next level or provides something radically different. NFC could do that, but in that case it's less about physically sticking it in to the phone and more about building up the infrastructure; unfortunately Apple doesn't seem to be doing anything there, and they don't seem to be doing anything else either.

As always, would love to be wrong, hope they have something really great. Unfortunately when you build your brand on innovative ideas, people expect you to keep delivering. When those ideas run out your brand will just lose steam.
Score: 53 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Dwalls90 Avatar
Dwalls90
178 months ago
This isn't really a surprise ...

iPhone 5S rumors (which NEEDS to happen, annual hardware updates for your NUMBER ONE product line is inexcusable), iPhone 5 initial issues with scuffing and Wifi, iOS 6 being stale and the maps fiasco, not to mention lack of jailbreak.

I LOVE Apple products, but ever since the iPhone 4S's release I've started to get bored and watch Apple be surpassed by even WP8 in some areas.

They need to lock down contracts in China and other areas of the world. They really only dominate the US market.

And the WSJ doesn't know this for sure, I'll wait to see the financials for the quarter before making judgement. Isn't it common for post-holiday shipment cuts? People surely don't buy in January like they do in December.
Score: 50 Votes (Like | Disagree)
myrtlebee Avatar
myrtlebee
178 months ago
Doesn't surprise me. Nothing made me covet iPhone 5. iOS is getting stale in my opinion. The products are becoming a bit boring and predictable lately. I love Apple, but it's just how I feel.
Score: 41 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments