Apple's hardware suppliers have been hit by a 10% decrease in the volume of new iPhone production requests for the first quarter of 2019. These claims have emanated from sources cited by a new report on Nikkei. It suggests that Apple's recent financial woes have translated into an anticipated negative effect on sales for the first 3 months of this year.
https://www.notebookcheck.net/Apple-has-reportedly-reduced-new-iPhone-production-again.393211.0.html
More like they knew the outrageous prices for the latest iPhones will result in reduced volume, so they decided to hide it instead.
What happens most of the time is such obscuring will backfire, because it'll cause people to speculate endlessly.
Also, they likely bet on increased prices on the latest iPhones to more than make up for the loss in volume. It doesn't look like the bet has paid off.
Yes, you can fleece consumers to a point. After that they start to say "NO!".