Apple has asked some suppliers to cut production of components for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, Nikkei Asia reported Friday. The report said October component orders for the two premium models are at least 15% below what Apple originally requested.
One executive-level source told Nikkei that October orders are down 15% to 20% for both premium models. The source said, 'we don’t know how things would develop from here.'
The cuts do not affect every supplier in the same way. Nikkei said the impact depends on lead times, and it remains unclear whether Apple will make further changes from November onward.
Apple has not confirmed the reported reductions and did not immediately respond to Fortune’s request for comment.
The timing matters. The report comes barely a month into John Ternus’s tenure as CEO. Ternus succeeded Tim Cook on Sept. 1, and the iPhone 18 Pro lineup is the first flagship launch under his leadership.
Suppliers told Nikkei that price is part of the problem. The iPhone 18 Pro starts at $1,199 and the iPhone 18 Pro Max at $1,299, according to Apple’s website. Each is $100 more than the iPhone 17 Pro models they replaced. Apple unveiled the phones on Sept. 9 and began selling them on Sept. 18.
The price increase lands in the middle of a global memory-chip shortage fueled by the AI boom. Tech giants building AI data centers are taking a growing share of memory supply, leaving less for phones, laptops, and other consumer electronics. Apple had already raised prices on Macs and iPads in June. On his final earnings call as CEO in July, Cook called memory pricing a '100-year flood.'
J.P. Morgan Global Research estimates that prices for dynamic random-access memory, or DRAM, will have risen more than 400% from the start of 2024 through the end of 2026. J.P. Morgan economist Abiel Reinhart said the pressure is rippling wider, with the Consumer Price Index for software and accessories and the Producer Price Index for storage devices both up 23% since the end of 2024. The import price index for computers, peripherals, and parts has climbed 37%.
The smartphone market is also under strain. In August, International Data Corporation forecast that global smartphone shipments will fall 16.7% in 2026 to just over 1 billion units. IDC also expects the average selling price of a smartphone to rise 27.6% to $581 as manufacturers pass higher costs to consumers.
Apple’s fall lineup may be adding another wrinkle. This year, the company introduced only premium models: the iPhone 18 Pro, the iPhone 18 Pro Max, and its first foldable, the $2,000 iPhone Duo. It held back the standard iPhone 18, which is expected in spring 2027 alongside the lower-cost iPhone 18e and a second-generation iPhone Air, according to Bloomberg and other reports.
One supply-chain manager told Nikkei that demand is not as strong as in previous years, when Apple introduced all of its new models at once. Another source said the staggered schedule does not fully explain the weaker demand. One source said the iPhone Duo, which goes on sale Oct. 23, could face similar cuts once it ships.
Apple’s latest financial results, which predate the iPhone 18 launch, showed revenue of $109.4 billion for the fiscal third quarter ended June 27, up 16% from a year earlier. iPhone revenue rose nearly 22% and set a June-quarter record.
The market has already voted on the basic question here: how much more can consumers pay before they pull back? Apple’s pricing power is real, but it is not infinite. When memory costs jump, margins tighten and the taxpayer does not win a prize for the AI boom. Capital rewards clear rules and disciplined supply, not a scramble that leaves buyers paying more for less choice.
For free enterprise, the message is blunt. Higher input costs can travel straight into retail prices, and even a company as powerful as Apple cannot fully ignore demand. That is how a shortage becomes a consumer problem, then a broader market problem. The numbers come first, and they are pointing in the same direction: higher costs, softer orders, and a premium phone market under pressure.
