A credible Apple Source according to the Forbes article has stated that they will cancel the production of their most recent release the iPhone X. Though the iPhone X is performing at a market growth of 5%, even going against the expected 5-10% decrease in market growth. This sudden change is mostly due to lack of interest in the Chinese market. “In China big screens are king and the iPhone X’s polarising ‘notch’ is seen by Chinese consumers as removing too much usable space’. The Chinese market actually has shown a preference in the cheaper iPhone 8 Plus, mostly because of it’s size.
Apple plans to release 3 new versions inspired by the iPhone X: “a second generation 5.8-inch iPhone X, 6.5-inch iPhone X Plus and a “$650-750” 6.1-inch iPhone SE replacement which will be fitted with Face ID”. Apple is hoping that the bigger screens will do well in the Chinese market. The release of these phones is expected to be sometime in 2019.
Source:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2018/01/21/apple-iphone-x-buy-sales-specs-new-iphone-release-date/#7e628f7010cb
Apple has already taken action towards toning down the production of the iPhone X. Production was cut by over 50% from 2017 Q4 to 2018 Q1, from a drastic 40 million units to 20 million. The iPhone X greatly missed market estimated for Q4, but now they are even lower in 2018 Q1.
Although, the iPhone 8 family is pulling most of the weight for these new launches of iPhones. The iPhone 8 and 8 plus made up over 41% of iPhone sales during the fourth quarter. iPhone X made a sheer 20% of that margin. Comparing to other years, the new launch made up 61% of sales, but in the launch of the iPhone 7 family, their sales made up 72% of the total.
So overall, the new iPhones are undoubtedly lacking in sales, but they are still making profit. As production will be greatly cut, what will Apple do to combat this major undercut in sales. https://www.forbes.com/sites/ewanspence/2018/01/23/apple-iphonex-iphone8-success-failure-timcook/#4691aca7641f