Nikkei says Apple told suppliers to cut October iPhone 18 Pro component orders by at least 15%

Apple has told some suppliers to cut October component orders for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max by at least 15%, Nikkei Asia reported on Friday. That is October's orders set against what Apple first requested, for both models, not a figure for the whole quarter.

An executive at a supplier told Nikkei the October cut ran from 15% to 20% for both models.

"In October alone, we are seeing orders from Apple reducing by 15% to 20% for both the premium models; we don't know how things would develop from here."

Only Apple and the suppliers who received the order know how large that original request was.

Nikkei said Apple has been more cautious on shipments since early September, before the phones went on sale. It said soaring memory-chip costs had forced price increases that weakened demand.

Apple announced the phones on Wednesday, September 9. In the US, the Pro starts at $1,199 and the Pro Max at $1,299, $100 above the previous Pro models. They went on sale on Friday, September 18.

JPMorgan has been measuring something else: how many days a buyer waits for delivery after ordering.

In the first week, the bank put the global wait at 7 days for the Pro and 19 days for the Pro Max, against 15 days and 24 days for the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max a year earlier. It warned against reading demand from those early waits.

Supply of the two models can be divided differently than in past years, the bank said, because Apple launched no base model with them, and its folding phone, the iPhone Duo, is arriving in stages. Some buyers, the bank said, may be waiting for the Duo.

On Sunday, September 20, JPMorgan said the waits had risen to 23 days for the Pro and 30 days for the Pro Max. At the same point last year, waits rose by 9 days for the Pro and 7 days for the Pro Max.

The faster rise, the bank said, suggested stronger demand over those days than a year earlier. It said the test would be the third week, because buyers cannot order the Duo until October 16.

The sign that would settle demand, the bank said, is what suppliers later report about production plans, which it expects in November.

On Monday, September 28, JPMorgan said demand for the Pro still looked healthy. The global wait for the Pro was still 23 days, and the Pro Max had shortened by one day, to 29.

A wait is not a sale. It lengthens when orders run ahead of the phones Apple has ready, and it lengthens when fewer phones are ready.

A smaller October parts order, measured against Apple's own request, is a separate count. A long wait in September and that smaller order can both be true.

At 7:40 a.m. Eastern time, before the US open, Apple shares were trading at $333.16, the middle of the quoted buy and sell prices, down 2.1% from Thursday's close.

State Street listed Apple at 7.43% of ASPY, the fund that holds the S&P 500, as of Thursday. It listed Apple at 13.3% of AXLK, the fund that holds the technology stocks in that index, as of Wednesday.

At those weights, Apple's 2.1% drop subtracts 0.16 percentage points from ASPY and 0.28 percentage points from AXLK. At 7:50 a.m. Eastern time, both funds were still higher before the open, ASPY by 0.4% and AXLK by 1.0%, also taken from the middle of the quoted buy and sell prices.

Apple has set its results call for Monday, November 2. The quarter being reported ended September 26, so the figures can show how the new phones started, and they cannot show October's parts orders.