Apple To Trim iPhone 7, 7 Plus Production Early Next Year As Samsung Rival Prepares iPhone 8

Apple is looking forward to the new year with hopes of making it big once again when it releases its next iPhone installment. The iPhone 7 and 7 Plus did good when they were launched this September, but many Apple fans were not really convinced with the idea of upgrading their handsets this year. It won’t be surprising if consumers will not upgrade their smartphones early next year either.

Given the situation that Apple is in, it appears the Cupertino giant has already planned of adjusting the number of devices it will be making in the first quarter of 2017. Reuters has learned from Nikkei that Apple has decided to trim production of its new iPhones by 10 percent based off of suppliers’ calculations.

An Apple spokesperson has declined to comment on the new information from suppliers. But looking back at this year’s Q1 production, Apple also did some adjustments on the production of its iPhones. From January through March 2016, the company slashed its output by 30 percent as per its inventory. Therefore, it isn’t a major shocker to hear news about the decrease in iPhone production starting next month.

Aside from the reduced output, new information from industry sources claims that Apple is also manufacturing iPhones in India in 2017. The industry sources have said that Apple’s Taiwanese manufacturer Wistron has plans of assembling more iPhones in Bangalore starting in April of next year. This initiative is seen as an advantage to Apple because India is one of the fastest-growing smartphone markets at present, according to Fortune.

Meanwhile, Apple is also busy preparing its next flagship smartphones. If the latest rumors are to be believed, the tech giant could be releasing three iPhone 8 models next year: a 4.7-inch, 5.5-inch and 5.8-inch variants. Per our latest coverage of the iPhones, Samsung is going to supply Apple with curved display panels for the OLED version. Contrariwise, the other two models are sporting LCD screens.