Rising iPhone prices appear to be impacting Apple's production plans. According to reports, the company has cut component orders for the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max by 15 to 20 percent in October.

Apple's component orders cut.

The impact of rising smartphone prices is now being felt on sales and manufacturing plans. A report on Apple's new flagship phones, the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, claims that the company has instructed some component suppliers to reduce production.

This is being attributed to the rising cost of memory chips and a decline in user demand due to the high starting prices of the new iPhones. According to a report by Nikkei Asia, Apple has cut component orders for October by at least 15 percent compared to earlier estimates.

How many component orders were reduced in October?

According to the report, Apple has been more cautious about its phone shipments since the beginning of September. The report quotes a supply chain official as saying that orders for both premium models have been reduced by approximately 15% to 20% in October, although the scale of reductions is not uniform across all suppliers. The impact may vary due to the time required to produce different components and the production process. It's unclear whether Apple will revise its orders again in the future.

Why has the rising price of memory chips become a challenge?

A major reason behind this shift is the growing demand from the AI ​​industry. Tech companies are purchasing more capacity for advanced chips and memory chips to build AI data centers. This has increased pressure on the availability of these components and pushed up prices. The impact isn't limited to smartphones. Rising chip costs are also expected to cause a decline in the personal computer and smartphone markets this year. Apple, when raising the prices of its iPad and MacBook in June, stated that it couldn't pass the entire burden of rising memory and storage chip costs onto users.  

The changed schedule of the iPhone launch could also have an impact.

The report also states that device demand from late August to October was weaker than in previous launch cycles, though this could be due to Apple's revised launch schedule. This time, the company has introduced premium models first, while the standard iPhone 18 and the redesigned iPhone Air are reportedly expected to launch early next year. Component production for these models is expected to begin by the end of 2026.