Apple is reportedly scaling back production orders for its latest flagship smartphones, the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, less than a month after their launch, amid concerns over weaker-than-expected demand and rising component costs.
According to Nikkei Asia, citing people familiar with the matter, Apple has asked suppliers to reduce October component production by at least 15% to 20% compared with earlier forecasts. Rising memory chip costs, partly driven by demand from AI data centre construction, have put further pressure on smartphone prices.
The iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, unveiled in September, start at US$1,199 and US$1,299 respectively, marking a US$100 increase over their predecessors. Apple had also raised prices for its iPad and MacBook ranges in June, acknowledging that it could no longer absorb the higher component costs on its own.
The price increases appear to be weighing on consumer demand. Since early September, Apple has reportedly adopted a more cautious outlook for shipments of its new smartphones. Research firm IDC has also forecast that rising memory costs could cause global smartphone shipments to fall by 16.7% this year, potentially marking the largest decline on record.
In Taiwan, retail prices for the iPhone 18 Pro series have already begun to soften. According to ETtoday, retailers including Jeisys Communications have observed price reductions less than a month after the phones went on sale.
The 256GB iPhone 18 Pro has seen discounts of around NT$1,000 for certain colours, while the top-end 2TB versions of the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max have reportedly been discounted by NT$2,010 and NT$4,010 respectively. Retailers attributed the early price adjustments partly to replenished launch supplies and promotional discounts during the holiday period.
However, industry views on the new iPhones’ performance remain divided. Major telecommunications operators and retailers had previously reported that initial demand for the iPhone 18 Pro was slightly stronger than that for last year’s iPhone 17 Pro.
Largan Precision chairman Lin En-ping, meanwhile, said during an earnings briefing that customers had already reduced orders in September. He expected shipments to remain flat in October before declining in November, prompting speculation that demand for the latest iPhone models was losing momentum.
As prices for the newest models climb, some consumers are turning to the previous-generation iPhone 17 Pro series instead. Older models have also seen significant price cuts at retailers, with some offering savings of nearly NT$9,000 compared with the equivalent-capacity iPhone 18 Pro.
With Apple having discontinued official sales of the previous-generation models, remaining genuine retail stock is becoming increasingly limited, making the iPhone 17 Pro series an attractive alternative for budget-conscious buyers.
