Technology

What's Up With Apple: Slipping iPhone Demand, App Store Awards and More

Paul Ausick

Published: December 2, 2021 7:55 am

Last Updated: December 2, 2021 10:30 am

In mid-October, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) cut its planned production of the iPhone 13 from 90 million units to around 80 million. When the company reported September-quarter results, CEO Tim Cook said that Apple likely will leave about $6 billion in December-quarter revenue on the table due to parts shortages.

Now, it seems that demand for iPhone 13 is decreasing. Citing unnamed sources, Bloomberg reported late Wednesday that consumers who are having a hard time finding an iPhone 13 have given up trying. Apple had expected to make up for the holiday quarter shortfall next year, but, according to Bloomberg’s sources, “[Apple] is now informing its vendors that those orders may not materialize … .”

Apple stock, which closed down slightly on Wednesday, traded down more than 2.5% in Thursday’s premarket session at around $160.37. The stock posted a new all-time high of $170.30 in early afternoon trading Wednesday, before succumbing to the market-wide sell-off that left the main market indexes down by more than 1%.

Awards season continued at Apple on Wednesday. The company announced its choices for the best apps and games of 2021. The company called the honors the App Store Awards, likely in an effort to position the App Store more firmly as the source of the best apps and games for Apple devices. CEO Tim Cook commented:

From self-taught indie coders to inspiring leaders building global businesses, these standout developers innovated with Apple technology, with many helping to foster the profound sense of togetherness we needed this year.

Here’s a partial list of the app and game winners:

• iPhone App of the Year: Toca Life World, from Toca Boca
• iPad App of the Year: LumaFusion, from LumaTouch
• Apple Watch App of the Year: Carrot Weather, from Grailr
• iPhone Game of the Year: League of Legends: Wild Rift, from Riot Games
• iPad Game of the Year: MARVEL Future Revolution, from Netmarble
• Mac Game of the Year: Myst, from Cyan

Briefly noted:

Another engineer on Apple’s unconfirmed car project has left the company. Former Tesla engineer Michael Schwekutsch joined Apple in March of 2019 as a senior director of engineering. He left the company last month to become a senior vice-president of engineering at electric air-taxi company Archer Aviation.

Apple and Spotify have released lists of the year’s most-streamed songs on their respective streaming services.