In a world where iPhone demand is on the wane, Apple has a plan B. As customers wait longer between upgrades and the smartphone market saturates, Apple can fall back on charging higher prices for each handset and raking in more money from services such as streaming music, digital videos, and data storage.

Apple is expected to cut production of its latest iPhone models by about 30% in the January-March quarter due to mounting inventories, the Nikkei reported, rattling the nerves of investors in the US giant’s Asian suppliers.

Apple hasn’t even hinted at the iPad Pro, its 12.9-inch tablet, but that hasn’t stemmed the wave of leaks, rumours and reports. It was initially tipped for release at the tail end of this year, but looks likely to slip to 2016.

Apple is to release its new iPhone in September, with higher resolution and bigger screen, in its latest salvo in the smartphone wars, where it has lost global market share to rivals Samsung.

Apple plans to use a larger screen on its next-generation iPhone and has begun to place orders for the new displays from suppliers in South Korea and Japan, according to sources.