Apple planning to sell fewer iPhones than predicted in 2022 (around 20 million units less)

It seems Apple is planning to make the same amount of iPhones in 2022 as it did in 2021, according to a new supply chain report: pretty much, around 20 million fewer than what analysts had expected. AppleInsider now reports that despite the iPhone being the only smartphone to get a sales rise in the first quarter of this year, Cupertino won't be making more iPhone orders.

Sources state Apple will make roughly the same number of iPhones this year as it did last year

Bloomberg reports that Cupertino seems to have decided to take a more conservative stance this year, adding that the year could be quite challenging for the smartphone market. Sources have claimed that the tech giant has requested suppliers to assemble roughly 220 million iPhones, which is about the same as last year.

That's some 20 million short of the market forecasts which were focusing on a number closer to 240 million units, given the fact that a major update to the iPhone is expected in the fall. However, as we already mentioned above, it seems that the mobile tech industry is having some challenging times. This pretty much means that production estimates are down not only for Apple but for all the players in the mobile market field.

The issues that are plaguing the beginning of 2022 are not to be underestimated. Bloomberg's report underlines that the war in Ukraine, the worst inflation in decades, and the supply-chain issues are all factors that might contribute to a lower number of sales in the mobile tech industry in 2022.

It seems statistical predictions agree with that. Strategy Analytics predicts that overall smartphone shipments will drop by around 2% in 2022, and TrendForce has downgraded its full-year production forecast twice already in the last few weeks.

As some of you may know, Apple has stopped disclosing its production targets back in 2019, and the company doesn't publish how many iPhones it is selling.

However, Cupertino has warned there will be an effect of recent pandemic-related lockdowns that have been happening in China. Apple has stated the situation may impact sales by $4 billion to $8 billion in the current quarter.

On top of everything, the whole tech industry expects consumer spending to slow down, due to the fact that many everyday essentials are getting a bit more expensive because of rising fuel and material prices.

The overall smartphone market up to a slow start of the year

Shipments have dropped 11% in the first quarter across the entire mobile tech market, and this is the worst the numbers have been since 2020 happened. Even Xiaomi, a company that's been record-breaking in its growth, has posted a first-ever quarterly revenue decline earlier this month.

But is Apple really in danger from all of this? Probably not, given the fact that Apple is facing even less competition (you know, Huawei used to be very aggressive, and used to be number 1 in sales, but has been now shut out of markets), and demand for Apple products is usually high because of the wealthier customer base and software and services ecosystem.

And on top of that, Apple is gearing up for an enticing iPhone 14 release. As you probably know already, the four flagship models are expected to bring a bigger update than what the iPhone 13 series brought to the table. Rumors have been painting the picture of better cameras for the iPhone 14 series, a different notch design for the Pro models, and features such as satellite-based text messaging.

With all that being said, we will have to wait and see how things will pan out for Apple (and the rest of the market).