While DigiTimes isn’t exactly known for its accuracy when it comes to many rumors, the website does have a good number of electronics supply chain contacts that often share information on components that are used in the manufacture of smartphones. Those contacts have provided DigiTimes with numbers showing that Android handset makers are cutting back on component orders in anticipation of fierce competition from Apple’s next smartphone — the iPhone 7.
Supply chain sources told DigiTimes that integrated circuit orders from manufacturers of Android smartphones are slowing, in many cases because part inventories are stacking up. Chinese smartphone makers are said to be cutting their orders for underperforming handsets, and other manufacturers are taking a cautious approach regarding chip purchases as the iPhone 7 launch date inches closer.
DigiTimes noted that the Android handset makers “intend to avoid clashing head-on with Apple’s next-generation iPhone slated for launch in September.”
