iPhone Sales: TSMC, Foxconn November Revenue Increments Quash Weak Demand Claims

Apple’s current generation of iPhones may be doing well on the market despite claims that they are suffering weak demand weeks after they were launched.

Apple’s largest suppliers, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and Foxconn (also called Hon Hai), have reported increments in their November revenues, an outward sign that the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and iPhone XR could be doing well after all.

By posting decent jumps in their monthly revenues, TSMC and Foxconn may have helped assuage investors who are worried about the iPhone’s demand amid the slowing down global smartphone market, according to Bloomberg.

Both TSMC and Foxconn posted a 5.6 percent rise in their November sales, a solid figure despite reports that Apple cut back on orders to reflect the weakening demand for its iOS 12-powered smartphones.

Last week, several sites, including Business Insider, reported that Apple’s iPhone revenue is expected to fall about 2 percent in the company’s 2019 fiscal year compared to last year due to tepid consumer interest in the new iPhones, especially the iPhone XR, which is the cheapest model this year.

The only time that Apple saw its iPhone revenue decline was back in its 2016 fiscal year. At the time, its smartphone revenue fell 12 percent. Nonetheless, it was not considered a bad thing since it preceded a 52 percent surge in its fiscal year 2015.

Meanwhile, the reports claiming weakened iPhone demand were also fueled by revelations that Apple’s suppliers have cut down on their component volumes for the tech giant. For one, Lumentum Holdings, the main supplier of the iPhone’s Face ID modules, cut $70 million of its revenue forecasts last month, as pointed out by Reuters.

In early November, Apple instructed iPhone assemblers Foxconn and Pegatron to halt plans for additional production of the iPhone XR, a move that was taken as a sign of the worse-than-expected performance of the low-cost model.

Apple unveiled all three iPhone models on Sept. 12. The iPhone XS and the iPhone XS Max then hit store shelves on Sept. 21. The iPhone XR wasn’t made available to the public until Oct. 26. The delay was reportedly due to supplier Japan Display’s low yields in manufacturing the LCD panels for the said model.