(Yicai) Sept. 18 -- Shares of Chinese Apple supplier Luxshare Precision Industry stumbled after pre-orders for the new iPhone 16 lineup fell short of expectations over their first weekend on sale.

Dongguan-based Luxshare [SHE: 002475] closed down 3.4 percent at CNY35.90 (USD5.07) a share in Shenzhen today, after having earlier fallen by as much as 6.2 percent.

Weekend pre-orders for the iPhone 16 are estimated at about 37 million units, down about 12.7 percent compared to first-weekend sales for the iPhone 15 last year, according to a report by Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst at TF International Securities. The key factor has been lower-than-expected demand for the premium iPhone 16 Pro series, he added.

Pre-orders for the iPhone 16 started on Sept. 13 and the handset will hit the market on Sept. 20. The basic iPhone 16 is priced at USD799, the same as the iPhone 15, with the higher-specification iPhone 16 Pro starting from USD999.

Apple is facing strong competition in China from domestic rivals such as Huawei Technologies. Shenzhen-based Huawei released the world's first bi-fold smartphone shortly after Apple released the iPhone 16. Another problem for the US tech giant is that its new artificial intelligence-enabled functions, intended to be a major selling point for the iPhone 16, are currently not useable in the Chinese mainland.

Luxshare became an Apple supplier in 2011 and now offers services for products including the Apple Watch, AirPods, and Vision Pro, as well as the iPhone. Apple has become its biggest client, with about three quarters of its total revenue last year contributed by the California-based firm.

In recent years, Luxshare has been expanding into the auto parts business to reduce its dependence on Apple. On Sept. 13, the company announced a plan to acquire a 50.1 percent stake in German auto parts firm Leoni and all of a wholly owned Leoni unit for EUR525 million (USD584.3 million).

Leoni, a leading cable, wire and harness systems solutions provider worldwide, makes products that are also used in communications and the pharmaceutical sector, as well as autos. Last year, it had total revenue of EUR5.5 billion (USD6.1 billion) and a net loss of EUR128 million, according to a statement from Luxshare.

In the six months ended June 30, Luxshare increased its net profit 24 percent year on year to CNY5.4 billion (USD761.7 million), with revenue rising 6 percent to CNY103.6 billion (USD14.6 billion), its latest financial report showed. Revenue from the auto parts business made up 4.6 percent of the total, up from 3.3 percent a year earlier. 

Editors: Dou Shicong, Tom Litting