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A brand new report claims that Apple has instructed its component suppliers to make around 20 percent fewer parts for iPhones in the second half of the year. Sources familiar believe the planis for the upcoming iPhone range, which will include the iPhone X successor, the iPhone X Plus and the iPhone 9.

Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Are Down 2.2 Percent, Affecting Its Suppliers as a Result of This News - Company Expects 20 Million Fewer New iPhone 2018 Models to Be Sold This Year

Based ontwoindustry sources, Nikkeivia Reutersstated that Apple is expecting 80 million of the upcoming iPhones to be shipped this yearand while those are a lot of shipments,that is 20 million less than the shipments planned last year during the same time period. One of Apple’s key suppliers warned about a slowdown in sales in Apriland sure enough,this made investors panic and the market capitalization of Apple dropped by $60billionin just two days.

Analysts have also predicted a decline in smartphone salesasmarkets like China have slowed down and consumers are less willing to upgrade their smartphonesbecause they either offer non-compelling upgrades or their current device is performing to their expectations. Investors were already spooked about the ‘lower than expected sales’of the iPhone X in the first quarter of 2018.However, their doubts were quickly removedas iPhone X sales picked up and it sold more than any other smartphoneduring that period.

You should also note that supply chains aren’t necessarily accurate always. Tim Cook has previously said that isolated supply chain news is not reliable as the supply chain of the company is complex and an outsider cannot interpret it properly.

Apple usually launches its new iPhone lineup during the second half of the year. The latest news sent Apple’s stock down 2.2 percent toa value$189.20. Additionally, Apple’s suppliers were also affected by this, with the shares of Dialog falling4.1percentwhile those of AMS falling by 6 percent.

As per reports, Apple is planning to release threenewiPhonemodelsin 2018, with the announcement expected to he held during the company’s annual keynotes.As for the latest news, Apple has not made any comments so we’ll be updating you guys on the latest.

News Source: Reuters