While Apple’s latest earnings call isn’t due until sometime later this month, rumors are already starting to circulate — and they’re not the good kind, at least for Apple.

The Wall Street Journal claims that the company has cut orders for iPhone 5 components due to “weaker-than-expected” demand for the device. Just how much cuts are we talking here? The Journal cites “people familiar with the situation” and pegs the amount to around half. If these rumors are true, that’s a pretty big cut.

Apple’s smartphone market share has also been shrinking recently, dropping to 15 percent in the third quarter of 2012. Samsung on the other hand, has overtaken Apple and now leads the market with 31 percent of all smartphone sales.

It’ll be interesting to see how Apple responds to this — maybe through an accelerated upgrade cycle or the rumored bigger but cheaper iPhone for emerging markets. It might also be safe to say that iOS 7 and the next iPhone are gonna have a lot riding on them. If we do see a revolutionary new iOS and iPhone next time around, we’ll only have one thing to be thankful for — competition.

[via Gizmodo]