Apple halts production boost for iPhone XR: Report

Slower-than-expected demand has reportedly led Apple to direct its top phone assemblers, Foxconn and Pegatron, to halt a planned production boost for iPhone XR, a relatively cost-effective model that hit the shelves late last month.

Foxconn, a Taiwan-based company, would produce around 100,000 fewer units daily to reflect the new demand outlook, down 20-25 per cent from the original optimistic outlook, Japanese financial paper Nikkei reported on Monday citing anonymous sources. 

"For the Foxconn side, it first prepared nearly 60 assembly lines for Apple`s XR model, but recently uses only around 45 production lines as its top customer said it does not need to manufacture that many by now," a source told Nikkei.

Fellow Taiwanese manufacturer Pegatron is also suspending plans to ramp up production, the report said. iPhone XR debuted alongside the iPhone XS and top-of-the-line XS Max.

While the demand for iPhone XR appears to have not met Apple`s expectations, the Cupertino, California-headquartered tech giant is requesting more of the older iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus models, which are up to 20 per cent cheaper than the XR`s starting price of $749.

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"Suppliers of iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus are getting a combined order of around five million more units," one source told Nikkei.