Apple shares fall 2.3% on reports of iPhone component order cuts amid weak demand
Key Facts
Apple shares fell 2.3% in early U.S. trading on 9 October 2026 following reports of cuts to iPhone 18 Pro component orders amid weak demand. Reuters cited Nikkei as reporting that cuts at some suppliers amounted to "at least 15% compared with what was originally ordered" for October orders. The cuts concerned original orders placed with those suppliers for the same month, amid pressures the coverage attributed to rising memory chip costs and higher device prices. Reuters carried the report with a caveat about independent verification, while Apple did not immediately respond to the agency's request for comment outside regular business hours. The stock had fallen about 2% before the open, according to Invezz, before Investing.com recorded the subsequent decline at 09:48 Eastern Time, or 13:48 GMT.
Apple had set the U.S. starting price of the iPhone 18 Pro at $1,199 in its launch statement for the new phones, as the weak demand reported by Nikkei was linked to higher prices and component costs. The company set the U.S. starting price of the iPhone 18 Pro Max at $1,299, part of the handset lineup it launched in September. According to Reuters, the starting price of each model is $100 higher than that of its predecessor. The comparison covers the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max, which the coverage used as the basis for measuring the increase in prices for the new generation. The order cuts reported by Nikkei thus followed the launch of Pro models priced above their predecessors, while memory costs were among the pressures cited in the coverage to explain subdued demand.
Memory cost pressures had already extended to other Apple devices, with Reuters reporting in June on price increases for iPads and MacBooks because of those rising costs. The agency quoted the company as saying at the time: "We have never seen a component price rise this much, this quickly," describing the scale and speed of the increase. Across the broader smartphone market, Counterpoint forecast in projections published in early June that global shipments would decline during 2026 amid a shortage of memory chips. The projected annual decline was 13.9%, according to figures Reuters cited from the firm, bringing expected shipments down to 1.08 billion devices for the year. In China, separate figures from the firm cited by Reuters in July showed Apple sales fell 9% year on year during the 2026 618 shopping festival.
The October reports follow financial results in which Apple reported revenue and profit growth for the June quarter, its third fiscal quarter of 2026. Quarterly revenue reached $109.4 billion, according to the company's statement, up 16% from the same quarter a year earlier. Analysts had expected revenue of $109 billion, according to a FactSet survey cited by the Associated Press, putting reported revenue above that estimate. Diluted earnings per share were $2.02, up 29% year on year, according to Apple's financial statement. Associated Press coverage compared that result with analysts' expectations of $1.89 per share, while the reported results showed annual growth in both revenue and earnings per share.
Commenting on the June-quarter results, Tim Cook said revenue growth spanned iPhones, Macs and services, according to Apple's statement accompanying the earnings release. Cook described those businesses as delivering "double-digit revenue growth," referring to the quarter preceding the September handset launch. He added that double-digit growth also extended to all of the company's geographic segments, alongside the product and services categories he named. Those remarks formed part of the company's quarterly performance presentation, while the report attributed to Nikkei in October focused on component orders at some suppliers. Between the two periods, Apple brought its new Pro phones to market, with reports of order adjustments coming after sales of the new generation began and against the backdrop of the prices announced at launch.
The iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max went on sale on 18 September, according to Apple's launch statement for the models, before reports emerged of cuts to October component orders. The next announced date in the company's handset rollout concerns the foldable iPhone Duo, according to Associated Press coverage of the product. That coverage set 23 October as the phone's availability date, following the start of sales of the Pro and Pro Max models. On financial disclosures, MacRumors reported in coverage published before the order news that Apple would announce its fourth fiscal quarter results on Monday, 2 November. The website based the earnings announcement date on the company's updated investor relations page, placing the quarterly disclosure after the scheduled availability date for the iPhone Duo.