Growing iPhone 6 Supplies Prompt Apple to Cut Production, Reports Say

Today’s topics include reports that Apple is cutting back on iPhone 6 production, Intel shows off the reach of its technologies at CES 2016, LG’s ultra-flexible television display technology and Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon Socs for connected cars.

Faced by growing stocks of unsold iPhone 6 smartphones around the world, Apple is preparing to trim production of the devices by about 30 percent through March. The development was revealed in a Jan. 6 report by business news source Nikkei. The news caused a drop in the stock prices of Apple and its publicly held suppliers. The production cuts by Apple were discussed by several of the company’s parts suppliers, which were not named in the story.

Intel is using CES 2016 this week to demonstrate yet again that its silicon technologies aren’t just for PCs and servers anymore. At the event last year, company CEO Brian Krzanich introduced Curie, the tiny development platform for wearable devices, such as smartwatches, bracelets and eyewear and sensors that help make up the Internet of things.

Krzanich announced a broad array of partnerships with such companies as ESPN, Red Bull, New Balance and Oakley that showcase the various ways that Intel technologies—from Curie to the company’s RealSense 3D cameras—can be used in smart and connected devices.

Also at CES, South Korea’s LG Electronics provided one of the day’s true headliners, a bendable ultra-high-definition television that is a mere 2.57mm thick. The organic light-emitting diode TV screen can be rolled up and stored away if necessary. Although it impressed a lot of CES visitors, it’s not a market-ready product. The one shown is an 18-inch prototype, and LG is still working out its bugs.

Qualcomm is continuing to make a push into the growing automotive technology market, with company officials introducing this week a portfolio of processors based on the company’s upcoming generation of Snapdragon 820 chips. Qualcomm unveiled the Snapdragon 820 Automotive (820A) family of systems-on-a-chip (SoCs) at the CES as part of a larger series of mobile technology announcements.