Exclusive | Apple said to cut orders from two China component suppliers by 30pc on lukewarm iPhone XR demand

Apple, whose popular iPhones are among the priciest handsets globally, has reduced orders from two component suppliers in China after its latest, slightly lower-priced iPhone XR model failed to achieve expected sales, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Apple recently informed the two companies it was reducing orders for their respective components by around 30 per cent from what was originally planned, said the two people, who declined to be identified because the information is private. The component companies have both been supplying the Cupertino, California-based US technology giant for years.

The components are mostly used in Apple’s latest iPhone XR model, designed as a follow-up to the iPhone 8 and slightly cheaper than the new XS and XS Max models, and the decision was made about two weeks after the new handsets hit the shelves globally, the two people said.

An e-mail sent to Apple for comment did not receive an immediate response.

Apple, the world’s third-largest smartphone vendor after Samsung Electronics and Huawei Technologies, has typically raised the price of its signature iPhones with every new launch but some analysts say that consumers, especially in emerging markets such as India, are ditching them for cheaper alternatives such as those offered by China’s OnePlus or Huawei’s Honor brand.

The two Chinese component suppliers are not the sole suppliers of their parts to Apple. The US company typically has three to four suppliers for each specific part, said the people.