New Delhi, Oct. 12 -- CUPERTINO, Calif. - Apple has asked some of its suppliers to build fewer parts for the two most expensive iPhones it launched last month, a quiet adjustment that says more about what buyers will pay for a premium phone than anything shown on stage in September. Nikkei Asia reported on Friday that the company told select suppliers to trim component production for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, according to a report that MacRumors and others relayed within hours. Apple had not commented when the report appeared.

Memory chips, not cameras, sit at the center of it. Nikkei attributed the pullback to soaring memory costs, which pushed up prices and dampened demand for the Pro models. In its analysis, Fortune tie...