14 DAY TRIAL // Apple is now in the process of aligning iPhone X production with demand worldwide, but a series of analyst forecasts that made the rounds lately projected dropping sales in 2018, partially because of the high price of the device.
That’s not going to happen, according to Murata Manufacturing, who builds foldable circuits for the new iPhone models launched this year.
The company has recently increased production of the MetroCirc circuit boards for the iPhone 8 and the iPhone X to the maximum capacity, with President Tsuneo Murata telling Bloomberg that they have no other option than to refuse new customers.
Murata says he expects iPhone X orders to increase next year, and this is the main reason it’s focused mostly on its partnership with Apple and turning other customers away.
“The numbers we are seeing now suggest that orders will increase next year. We simply don’t have the room to accommodate [production for other customers]. For now, it all goes to one customer,” the company official was quoted as saying.
Three new iPhones launching in 2018
Murata had a hard time reaching the production output requested by Apple, and the company moved production to larger equipment that suffered from lower yield rates, eventually causing an operating profit forecast cut of 25 percent to 170 billion yen ($1.5 billion), according to the cited source.
MetroCirc is a new foldable circuit that can be used in a wide variety of devices, but given it supports bending, manufacturers can easily install them on smartphones as well without a substantial impact on the space under the hood. The company expects sales of its tech to reach no less than 100 billion yen ($88 million) by 2021, especially as it’s being used on an increasing number of devices.
Apple is expected to launch three different iPhone models next year, including a Plus-sized version of the iPhone X that could come with a screen as big as 6.5 inches. All three are likely to feature the circuit boards manufactured by Murata.