Apple's Asia suppliers fall on report it cancelled production boost for iPhone XR

[SINGAPORE] Apple Inc's Asian supplier and assembler stocks fell on Tuesday on a media report that the iPhone maker had told its smartphone assemblers to halt plans for additional production lines dedicated to its new iPhone XR.

Taiwanese assembler Pegatron Corp fell nearly 4 per cent and rival Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd (Foxconn) fell 2.5 per cent. Apple is widely considered the biggest customer for Foxconn.

Apple shares fell nearly 4 per cent on Monday after the report from the Nikkei financial daily, which fuelled concerns that the iPhone XR - the cheapest of three iPhones unveiled in September - was facing weak demand just days after it hit shelves.

The Nikkei, citing supply chain sources, said Apple had also asked smaller iPhone assembler Wistron Corp to stand by for rush orders, but that the company will receive no planned orders for the iPhone XR this season. Wistron shares were down just over 1 per cent on Tuesday.

A bunch of Apple's other Taiwanese suppliers fell sharply, including camera lens-maker Largan Precision Co Ltd, which was down more than 7 per cent, and Flexium Interconnect Inc , which fell 6 per cent. The Taiwan Weighted Index was down around 0.9 per cent.

Hong Kong-based acoustic components supplier AAC Technologies Holdings Inc fell 7 per cent. South Korean electronic parts suppliers Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co Ltd and LG Innotek Co Ltd were down more than 6 per cent.

The Nikkei report comes days after Apple said sales for the usually busy holiday period would likely miss analyst expectations as sales in emerging markets including India were weak.

Apple on Monday did not respond to Reuters' request for comment. Foxconn and Pegatron declined to comment on specific customers or products. Wistron was not immediately available for comment.

REUTERS