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Apple shares fall premarket on iPhone 8 production and sales concerns

Last updated: 05:30 20 Oct 2017 AEDT, First published: 18:30 19 Oct 2017 AEDT

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The iPhone X is scheduled to be up for sale November 3, and this could be another factor hitting the sales of iPhone8.

Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares fell on Thursday on concerns over poor demand, as well as possible cuts in the production of its latest iPhone 8.

And to rub salt in, Apple Watch, seems to have run into some problems in China.

READ: Apple gets green-light to build major data centre in Ireland

A special feature that allows users to make voice calls, send and receive text and data while the watch is not wirelessly connected to an iPhone seems to be no longer working there. Apparently, the feature was disconnected for new subscribers, with no reasons given.

In premarket trade, Apple shares dipped 1.72% at US$157.00.

News of a slowdown in iPhone 8 production was triggered by a Taiwanese newspaper report, the Economic Times, which quoted analysts as saying that there could be as much as a 50% cut in orders for the new mobile phone.

READ: RBC: Apple’s value could soar past US$1trn as early as next year

Also, it was reported that a carrier store survey suggested that iPhone7 sales was outstripping that of the new phone just a month after the new launch, Reuters reports.

The iPhone X is scheduled to be up for sale November 3, and this could be another factor hitting the sales of iPhone8.

Shift towards iPhone X

Rosenblatt Securities analyst Jun Zhang said he believed Apple could cut iPhone 8 production and shift capacity toward iPhone X as the premium phone is expected to sell out quickly, the news agency said.

“Our research suggests the production mix was 50/50 between iPhone 8/8 Plus and the iPhone X, but iPhone X allocation could shift up to 60-70 percent in December and even more in the March quarter,” Zhang said.

The lowered orders mean shipments of iPhone 8 models could come in at just 5-6 mln per month in November and December, the newspaper reported. 

Apple was not immediately available to comment on the newspaper report.

Overall iPhone production largely on track

Deutsche Bank analysts, however, said: “We think the market could have over-focused on the production swing in different SKUs, but overlooked that the overall iPhone production is largely on track,” they said.

Later, in the regular session, Apple  shares shed 2.70% to US$155.45 each.

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