Analyst sez iPhone 3G production could fall 40% in Q4

by Darren Murph, posted Nov 4th 2008 at 8:02PM

No clue if you've been paying attention the past few months, but quite a bit of belt tightening has been going on. Granted, Apple's been making out just fine, but a fresh report from the doors of FBR Research asserts that it may be cutting its Q4 iPhone 3G production in the wake of a global spending slowdown. It should be noted that a 10% cut was already on the table, making this 30% larger than anticipated. According to the report, the firm's reported decision to scale back production "suggests that the global macroeconomic weakness is impacting even high-end consumers, those that are more likely to buy Apple's expensive gadgets." As we restrain ourselves from thanking Captain Obvious, we should also point out that this may not be nearly as big a deal as the numbers make it seem -- maybe it overshot Q3 production in order to guarantee 100% service levels in all markets, for instance. How's that for analysis?

[Via Silicon Alley Insider]

Filed under: Handsets, GSM, EDGE, HSDPA, Misc, Apple, iPhone OS

Tags: analyst, apple, demand, economy, iphone, iphone 3g, Iphone3g, report, supply

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Lowest Ranked

helixtimestwo @ Nov 4th 2008 9:13PM

Obama FTW!!

Neutral

)ROFL( @ Nov 5th 2008 12:43AM

Look at all them shiny POS in there!

Neutral

tigertown @ Nov 5th 2008 1:11PM

I think someone's jealous...

Highly Ranked

Chuck @ Nov 5th 2008 3:42AM

"maybe it overshot Q3 production in order to guarantee 100% service levels in all markets, for instance. How's that for analysis?"

I think you're right. From what I've seen of Apple, they have a relatively small market that can in fact get saturated.

Neutral

MBN @ Nov 5th 2008 12:11PM

"Sez"? Really? "SEZ"? C'mon!

Neutral

AFS @ Nov 15th 2008 2:46PM

Actually...the "cut" is 75% bigger than expected. To illustrate, let's say the previous quarter's production was 100 units then the expected 10% cut would have be 10. Now we know the cut might be 40 and 40 is 75% bigger than 10.

Can't believe my fellow geeks missed this...

Neutral