Apple has significantly lowered its demand expectations for the standard iPhone 17 because of rising hardware costs, a Chinese leaker claimed today.
According to the account "Fixed Focus Digital" on Weibo, some production lines for the standard iPhone 17 this week shifted from an earlier 15 percent reduction to plans to suspend roughly one-third of their capacity. The leaker also claimed Apple has made a "very serious" internal assessment of the impact that higher hardware costs could have on demand.
The claims can't be independently verified, plus the post doesn't say whether the production adjustments apply to overall iPhone 17 output or only to certain manufacturing lines, so caution is advised.
Higher component costs are impacting the electronics industry worldwide due to intense demand from AI companies intent on maximizing data center buildout, and Apple is far from immune.
The doubling cost of memory and storage chips over the last year recently led Apple to increase prices across multiple product lines, which CEO Tim Cook called "unavoidable." So far, iPhones have been spared the hikes, but Apple is widely expected to use the debut of iPhone 18 Pro models in September as a chance to increase the prices of its entire smartphone lineup.
Apple is expected to unveil a next-generation iPhone 18 model next spring alongside a new iPhone 18e and iPhone Air 2, as part of a new split-launch strategy.
