A report in a Taipei-based newspaper stating that Apple had cut orders for iPhone8 by more than 50 per cent owing to poor sales led to Apple shares plunging up to 2.8 per cent on Thursday.

However, the Economic Daily News which quoted analysts did not elaborate on what sort of orders had been cancelled.

Apple is yet to comment on this. There’s a “more anaemic appetite for the iPhone 8 right now,” Joe Natale, chief executive of Canadian carrier Rogers Communications, was quoted as saying in an Irish Examiner report on Friday.

Apple iPhone X has some hugely incremental features compared to the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, like less-bezel, facial-recognition system (FaceID), wireless charging and animoji, etc.

Earlier media reports had predicted weak demand for iPhone 8 owing to a “super premium” $999 iPhone X. The queues outside Apple Stores were shorter than previous years and the growing craze to own “super premium” iPhone X was likely to be the reason.

The various Apple Stores across the world reportedly saw a lot thinner crowd, far fewer than last year’s iPhone 7 launch. The latest development confirms earlier reports that iPhone X is cannibalising iPhone 8 orders.

“While it takes three to six weeks or more to ship new iPhone models after they are available for preorder, they see the iPhone 8 taking less than one to two weeks. This is due to the iPhone X cannibalisation,” Ming-Chi Kuo, the most famous Apple analyst with KGI Securities said recently.

There have also been some reports of iPhone 8 batteries swelling and phones being left split apart.

Apple iPhone 8 and 8 Plus went on sale on September 22. Apple was yet to release figures for the early sales of iPhone 8 and 8 Plus. The pre-orders for “super-premium” iPhone X will begin on October 27, with shipping starting November 3. The iPhone X will come to India on November 3, starting at Rs 89,000.

Smartphone users in India have also said that the lack of innovation coupled with high price of the devices have affected their decision to buy iPhone 8 and 8 Plus.

The iPhone 8 (64GB) costs Rs 64,000 while the 256GB variant comes at Rs 77,000. The iPhone 8 Plus starts at Rs 73,000 for 64GB while the 256GB variant costs Indian users Rs 86,000.