A pair of Apple suppliers issue new guidance warnings

From Nikkei Asian Review’s Apple cuts iPhone production plan by 10%:

Among leading Taiwanese iPhone suppliers, camera lens provider Largan Precision was the first to react to Apple’s revenue downgrade. In a regular monthly disclosure, Largan on Jan. 5 said its sales in December plunged 34% on the year and declined 20% from November. Its revenue of 3.22 billion New Taiwan dollars ($105 million) marked its worst December sales performance since 2013.

Metal case supplier Catcher Technology on Monday said it expects sales in the current January-March quarter to fall from a year earlier. Catcher saw revenue tumble 28% in December from the year prior. Of the new iPhone models, Catcher mostly makes metal frames and does glass back assembly for the XR. It supplies a small portion of the frames used in the XS Max.

“We expect the market conditions at the end of 2018 will continue into 2019,” Catcher said in a statement to investors, calling conditions “challenging” and describing the outlook for demand as “highly uncertain and volatile.”

My take: I’ve learned to take Nikkei Asian Review headlines with a grain of salt (see here, here and here). I’ve learned the hard way not to call FUD on guidance warnings issued by Apple suppliers.

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