Apple cuts orders for iPhone 5 parts on weak demand

       Apple cuts orders for iPhone 5 parts on weak demand


Today News :   Apple Inc (NSQ: AAPL) has cut orders for LCD screens and other parts for the iPhone 5 in the quarter due to weak demand, Nikkei reported on Monday, in a sign of the future American company is losing ground to Asian smartphone competitors.
Shares of Cupertino, California-based company fell more than 4 percent to $ 498.20 before the bell on Monday. They closed at $ 520.30 on Friday on the NASDAQ. News and dragged shares of suppliers Apple, such as Cirrus Logic Inc (NSQ: CRU) and Qualcomm Inc (NSQ: QCOM).
Apple, asked Japan Display Inc, Sharp Corp <6753.T> and South Korea's LG Display Co Ltd <034220.KS> roughly halve supply of LCD panels from the original plan of 65 million screens in January-March, the Japanese daily said, citing to people familiar with the situation, adding that the U.S. firm has also reduced orders for other components of the iPhone.
The move, if confirmed, will coincide with the analysts say that sales of the new iPhone 5, which was released in September, have not been as strong as expected.
Apple, was not immediately available for comment outside regular working hours in the U.S.. No one at Sharp was immediately available for comment on Monday - a national holiday in Japan - and parts suppliers in Taiwan for Apple declined to comment.
Apple has lost ground in the $ 200 billion-plus global smartphone market South Korean rival Samsung Electronics <005930.KS> and smaller Chinese rivals such as Huawei Technologies Co
Jefferies analyst Peter Misek cut its iPhone shipment estimates for January-March quarter on December 14, saying that the technology companies began cutting orders to suppliers in order to balance the excess stock.
Apple also cut their orders for memory chips for its new iPhone from its main supplier and competitor Samsung, Reuters reported in September, citing a source with direct knowledge of the matter.
The company has been cutting their orders from Samsung, as it seeks to diversify its memory chip power line.
SAMSUNG ahead APPLE
Samsung said on Monday that global sales of its flagship smartphone Galaxy S has exceeded 100 million since the first model was launched in May 2010. Galaxy S3, launched in May last year, has sold more than 40 million in seven months.
The new Galaxy S IV is widely expected to be released in a few months, and can be unbreakable screen, full high-definition resolution, boasting 440 pixels per inch, and a more powerful processor.
Samsung overtook Apple, helped in part the popularity of his Galaxy Note II phone-cum-tablet, enhancing the benefits of a wide range of portable devices in most places, price, while Apple, has released only one new smartphone last year worldwide analysts said.
Samsung, is expected to increase its smartphone sales more than a third this year, and to extend its lead over Apple, according to researcher Strategy Analytics, which predicts, Samsung sells 290 million smartphones in 2013 compared to iPhone sales of $ 180 million.
Kim Sung-in, an analyst at Kiwoom Securities in Seoul, Samsung sees the delivery of 320 million smartphones this year and doubling the sales of its tablets to 32 million.
Japan factory View Nomi, southwest Japan, where the company has invested heavily Apple is expected to temporarily reduce production by 80 percent from October to December levels, Nikkei reported, while a dedicated center for the iPhone 5 Sharp LCD panels will cut back on production in January and February by about 40 percent.
(Reporting by Tokyo office, Avik Das and Sayantani Ghosh in Bangalore and Clare Jim in Taipei, Editing Ian Geoghegan, Supriya Kurane)