In a report today, the Wall Street Journal has broken the news that Apple have halved their order for iPhone screens. According to the Journal, screen sales from January to March have been cut, however, only one source states that the orders extend beyond screens.
The cut in orders does not mean that sales are weak, or slow. According to The Verge, “Apple could be prepping for a new model and it already has all the components it needs.” A report by Nikkei shows that both Sharp and Japan Display have seen cuts.
BGR has conducted some calculations regarding the maths behind the WSJ‘s report, concluding that Apple sold roughly 25-35 million iPhones in a “soft” March quarter. For comparison, Samsung have sold a total of 40 million Galaxy S3s over a 7 month period (which makes for roughly 5.7 million per month).
BGR goes on to question the validity of the data, saying: “Nikkei was quite specific with the 65 million number. And it clearly tied it to iPhone 5 component orders, not total iPhone or iPhone 5 and iPod touch orders. In what world did Apple expect to order components for 65 million iPhone 5 handsets in the seasonally soft March quarter?” The WSJ have since dropped the 65 million number from their article.
Apple’s stock has dropped significantly, having declined 3.35% to $502.78 (£312) as of the time of writing (6:45 GMT).