Er... is it just me or is the concept of a 9 million unit order preposterous in the first place? Apple said it hoped to sell 10 million iPhones in the first 18 months. Why would they order 90% of those NOW?

This is FUD.

A little digging reveals that while TheStreet.com may have reported it, the analyst who supposedly made the original statement is denying it.

From AI:
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Apple shares slipped more than $5.00 or 3.5 percent in early morning trading on the Nasdaq stock market after TheStreet.com reported on a research note from Miller Tabak which allegedly asserted that Apple was reducing its production of iPhones from "9 million units to 4.5 million units.”

However, Miller Tabak analyst Peter Boockvar later told AppleInsider that his firm authored no such note on Apple. Instead, he said, gossip was passed along during a telephone conversation and was subsequently overblown.

"Disregard it. There's no note on Apple today," Boockvar said. "It's pure noise."

I'm disappointed that the MacObserver can't get this right.

Apple has not reported "first weekend sales" at all. The 270,000 number is the number of phones sold on Friday and Saturday only, not for the first weekend.

So comparing that number sold for Friday and Saturday to the 500,000 estimate for the first weekend is pretty misleading.

Sounds like this is a great opp to get some discounted AAPL...

I agree that the Mac Observer should try to distinguish itself by being more then mediocre. So called analysts' predictions were based on the first weekend's sales. As it stands, these predictions were silly, considering Apple's guidance for the next year and a half is 10 million.

iphone has to be open. I will never buy the device when it's tethered to AT&T, the worst of the telcos by far. If the iphone had been unlocked with 3G connects, Apple would have sold a ton. People want open access and wimax to the net. The 700 mhz auction is the most important news for the web because if RF spectrum remains open and wimax is as good as advertised, the need to go to the AT&Ts of the world becomes moot. Apple blew it on this because they have enough juice to do unlocked and let the telcos come to them, particularly if the device has wimax installed. Betting pool. iphone 2 will have this in spades along with connects to Skype. End game, they will sell a lot of phones including one for me.

Verizon passed on the deal, others probably did too. AT&T took the bait, no European carrier has signed with Apple. What I think has been overstated is Apple's power play with the iPhone. They took the deal they could get.

That said, I think the whole "rumor" this guy has started is just that, a rumor to drive the price down. And it should be investigated. Does he have any sort of credible source? If TheStreet.com is denying the story now, what is the veracity of his claim? Sounds like it could have a completely selfish motive...