Earnings warning hints at weak iPhone 8 sales; iPhone 7 is the most popular phone during Q3

Pegatron, one of the contract manufacturers used by Apple to assemble the iPhone, warned today that demand for the Apple iPhone 8 could be weak during the first quarter of 2018. The company said that it often experiences a seasonal slowdown during the start of a new year. Jeff Pu, an analyst at Yuanta Investment Consulting, predicts that Apple will slash orders for the iPhone 8 by 50% during the first quarter. Pegatron produces the iPhone 8 while Foxconn assembles the iPhone 8 Plus and the iPhone X. Apple contributes 60% of Pegatron's revenue and is the company's top customer.

In addition, new data released today by Canalys reveals that the Apple iPhone 7 was the most popular smartphone model in the world during the third quarter with 13 million units shipped. With 7.9 million units delivered worldwide in the quarter, the Apple iPhone 6s was second. The Samsung Galaxy J2 Prime was third, tied with the Oppo A57. The two models each had 7.8 million units shipped during the three months through the end of September. Rounding out the top 5 was the Oppo R11 with shipments of 7.2 million handsets made during the period.


The Apple iPhone 8 and Apple iPhone 8 Plus, both of which launched on September 22nd just days before the end of the quarter, combined to ship 11.8 million units. The iPhone 8 Plus delivered 6.3 million phones while the iPhone 8 delivered 5.5 million units.

source: Canalys, Nikkei