It’s hard to ignore the elephant in the room of inflation.

On Thursday reports emerged that iPhone 14 was not having the best start, as Apple has had to halt production of the phone and is reassessing demand.
Blaming supply chain sources, it has been reported that Apple has reached out to at least one iPhone assembly partner to halt iPhone 14 Plus production and contacted two component suppliers to lower production by up to 90%
“The focus is now on consumers as there is growing concern that demand for consumer electronics will have weakened as soaring inflation and energy costs will have shrunk disposable incomes,” Hathorn adds.
“In fact, we’ve already seen $Apple(AAPL.US)$ cut production on its newly launched iPhone 14 Plus as it re-evaluates the appetite and demand for its new product. The global smartphone market is expected to have shrunk by around 9% in the third quarter compared to a year earlier, with weak demand expected to continue in the next 6 to 12 months.”
Abhinav Davuluri, sector strategist at Morningstar echo’s Hathorn’s thoughts and said: “On the demand front, inflationary pressures are likely to curb consumer demand in the coming quarters, which could have a negative impact on Apple’s hardware sales.”
Whether AAPL can continue to maintain its position in the market, fighting against the ongoing storms, remains to be seen. But when it releases its fourth-quarter results next week, investors will be watching closely to see if it can remain king of tech giants.