© Reuters. Apple (AAPL) stock drops 3% on report demand is weakening
By Senad Karaahmetovic
Shares of Apple (NASDAQ:) are down more than 3% in Tuesday trading after Nikkei Assia reported that the Cupertino-tech titan notified suppliers that it expects weaker demand in Q1 for some of its hardware products.
Apple reportedly told its Asia-based suppliers to ship fewer components for AirPods, the Apple Watch, and MacBooks.
“Apple has alerted us to lower orders for almost all product lines actually since the quarter ending December, partly because the demand is not that strong,” a manager at an Apple supplier told Nikkei Asia. “The supply chain in China is still trying to cope with the latest abrupt policy turns, which brought a shortage of laborers because of the sharp COVID surges.”
Earlier today, Reuters reported that Apple supplier Foxconn’s key iPhone factory in Zhengzhou is almost back to full production after weeks of experiencing severe disruptions.
The COVID-19 outbreak in China, which started in late October, resulted in a labor shortage for Foxconn, prompting the major supplier to offer employee bonuses of up to CNY 14,000 ($2,013). Foxconn also saw some of its employees go on strike over payment issues.
Apple stock was downgraded at BNP Paribas Exane today with the price target also lowered on slashed estimates for EPS and iPhone deliveries. The broker now expects Apple to deliver 224 million iPhone units in 2023.
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