Mensajepor bullbear » Lun Ene 14, 2013 9:54 am 
			
			
			
			-- Apple  cuts orders for iPhone 5 components due to weaker-than-expected demand, people familiar with the situation say
--iPhone 5 screens for January-March quarter have dropped roughly half of what the company had previously planned to order, they say
(Recasts lead and adds analyst comment from paragraph 7.)
By  Juro Osawa 
HONG KONG-- Apple Inc.  (AAPL) has cut its orders for components for the iPhone 5 due to weaker-than-expected demand, people familiar with the situation said Monday, indicating sales of the latest smartphone haven't been as strong as previously anticipated.
 Apple's  orders for iPhone 5 screens for the January-March quarter, for example, have dropped to roughly half of what the company had previously planned to order, the people said.
The  Cupertino, Calif. , company has also cut orders for components other than screens, according to one of the people.
 Apple  notified the suppliers of the order cut last month, the people said.
The move comes as the company has been facing greater challenges from  Samsung Electronics Co.  and other makers of smartphones powered by  Google Inc.'s  Android operating system. While  Apple  has set the agenda for the smartphone market since it released its first iPhone in 2007,  South Korea's  Samsung , which sells many Android-based models at various price points, has already overtaken the U.S. company as the world's largest smartphone vendor by market share. Demand is also growing for inexpensive smartphones from Chinese makers such as  Huawei Technologies Co. 
While the popularity of iPhones and iPads has been boosting  Apple's  earnings and investor expectations over the past few years, there have been concerns in recent quarters about how long the growth momentum can continue.  Apple's  stock price, which peaked at about  $705.07  in September, closed Friday at  $520.30 , down 0.6%.
Some analysts have mentioned possible order cuts at suppliers and raised questions about demand for the iPhone 5.
 Apple  may have made particularly large iPhone 5 orders to suppliers for the October-December quarter, because of earlier concerns about manufacturing difficulties with some components such as screens, said Sanford Bernstein analyst  Alberto Moel .
 Citigroup  last month lowered its rating for  Apple  to Neutral from Buy, citing concerns about iPhone order cuts. The brokerage noted that a sharp increase in iPhone 5 production during the October-December period may have left  Apple  with more inventory than expected. Still, it also said that "good not great" demand is likely a factor behind order cuts.
"It is unlikely that  Apple  is cutting orders in a 'great' demand