Apple cuts orders for all iPhones by about 20% compared to its plans in December, with the iPhone 12 mini making up the bulk of the savings, according to Nikkei Asia. Consistent with previous reports, the publication claims that demand for the iPhone 12 mini ‘was much lower than what Apple initially expected’.
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The report claims that Apple initially intended to secure components for up to the first half of 2021 to 96 million iPhones, including the entire iPhone 12 series and older models such as the iPhone 11 and the iPhone SE, but the company is apparently now busy to production of about 75 million units during that period. It is still slightly higher than iPhone shipments in the same period last year, the report adds.
The iPhone 12 mini demand was so weak that Apple even asked some vendors to temporarily halt components to build specifically for the 5.4-inch device, according to Nikkei Asia. Some of the components and parts for the iPhone 12 mini have been redistributed to the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max, a source told the publication.
It is believed that Apple is still seeing healthy demand for its three higher-end iPhone 12 models, with strong sales of the devices contributing to Apple’s record $ 111.4 billion reported in the December quarter.
Although demand for the iPhone 12 mini may be lower than Apple initially expected, the company is expected to release a so-called iPhone 13 mini later this year.