Is iPhone 18 demand cooling off? Here's how deep Apple reportedly is cutting component orders.

By Nora Redmond

Apple's stock declined on Friday.

Shares of Apple declined early Friday after the technology giant reportedly told a number of suppliers to reduce their production of parts for two recently released iPhone models.

The Cupertino, Calif.-based company became more conservative on dispatches of the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max at the beginning of last month, according to Nikkei Asia, which said it spoke to multiple people it described as familiar with the situation.

Two people reportedly told the publication that component orders for October are down about 15% from what was initially asked as a result of softer-than-anticipated demand.

Apple did not immediately respond to MarketWatch's request for comment.

The company's stock (AAPL) declined 1.1% on Friday to $336.64 a share.

Apple unveiled the iPhone 18 Pro and the larger 18 Pro Max on Sept. 9. The device comes in black, silver, burgundy and glacier. The smaller model provides up to 24 hours of charge, while the larger phone offers up to 30 hours. CEO John Ternus said the company had made "massive advancements" across the product's battery, intelligence, camera and performance. The Apple 18 Pro starts at $1,199, and the Pro Max's pricing starts at $1,299.

"We don't know how things would develop from here," one of the executive-level people reportedly told Nikkei Asia in relation to the company's reducing its orders for parts for the newly launched premium phones. It is currently unknown whether changes to order requests will also be made in November. The change in shipping levels this month will affect some but not all suppliers of the phones, according to the publication.

While iPhone sales appeared strong in China during the first few weeks after launch, global demand seems weaker as memory-chip prices soar.

It is unclear which specific suppliers Apple reportedly spoke to, but Tata Electronics is a major manufacturer of the iPhone 18 Pro. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Qualcomm supply the company with chips. TSMC shares in New York (TSM) fell 1% on Friday, while Qualcomm's stock (QCOM) dipped fractionally.

In a note at the start of October, Morgan Stanley analysts led by Erik Woodring wrote that they had not seen meaningful supply-chain adjustments following the release of the two models. "Apple's product roadmap remains amongst the most exciting in over a decade," they wrote, adding that their bank's earnings outlook for the company remained largely the same.

Morgan Stanley's earnings-per-share estimate for Apple was kept at about $10 for financial 2027 and almost $11 for 2028. Its price target was marginally reduced from $360 to $355 due to uncertainty regarding the company's ability for long-term monetization in its services unit.

-Nora Redmond

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10-09-26 1730ET