According to Bloomberg reports, Murata Manufacturing Co. believes that due to weak market demand for iPhone 14 models, Apple will further cut production plans in the coming months, which will affect the performance of phone supply chain manufacturers.
Image source Pixabay
In an interview with Bloomberg, Norio Nakajima, president of Murata Manufacturing, said, “Judging from the supply of phones in stores, I think Apple will cut orders further, but I hope it won’t be cut too much.”
Murata has already cut its global smartphone production forecast for the current fiscal year several times. The company initially projected in April that global phone shipments would be 1.37 billion units, up slightly from 1.36 billion units in the previous fiscal year. in October, it lowered its forecast to just under 1.2 billion, and then to 1.09 billion two weeks later. Nakajima again lowered its phone shipments to 1.08 billion units.
Apple no longer discloses iPhone sales, but Bloomberg News reported that it initially aimed to produce 90 million units in the quarter, which it cut to 87 million a month ago as demand slumped. UBS said this month that the entire iPhone 14 generation maybe 16 million units short of earlier estimates.
The Kyoto, Japan-based manufacturer is a “trendsetter” in the phone industry, supplying electronic modules and components for Apple’s iPhone, Samsung Electronics’ Android smartphones and major Chinese device makers.
Murata said he is not worried about the volume of shipments, as phone production will recover in January-February next year, but the biggest problem is the weak consumer demand.
I went shopping with my son last Sunday to buy a phone for him from one of our major customers and the store had every model and every color in stock,” he said. I wouldn’t be surprised if customers even lower their forecasts further next”.
