The new iPhone 5C may not be as popular as the company likely hoped for, as Apple is reportedly cutting orders for the handset.

As it turns out, Apple has told its Taiwanese assemblers Foxconn and Pegatron that it will reduce iPhone 5C orders for the fourth quarter.

The news comes from a new Wall Street Journal report, which cites anonymous sources familiar with the matter.

Pegatron is reportedly in charge of assembling roughly two thirds of the total iPhone 5C units, but Apple has informed the company that it will cut shipments by less than 20 percent. Foxconn, meanwhile, received news that orders would be reduced by one-third, the report further states.

Apple reportedly gave these new instructions to suppliers earlier this month. According to the report, Foxconn has already took notice and stopped employing additional workers for the iPhone 5C production.

The production cut for the iPhone 5C suggests that the smartphone is not as successful as Apple might have thought. The iPhone 5C is essentially last year's iPhone 5 but with a plastic casing. Before it was officially unveiled, the iPhone 5C was widely expected to launch as the lower-cost, or "budget" iPhone. When it finally came out, many were disappointed to see that the smartphone's price tag was not so budget-friendly after all.

On the other hand, the high-end iPhone 5S seems on a roll. While Apple cut orders for the iPhone 5C, it increased iPhone 5S orders for the fourth quarter.

Both the iPhone 5S and the iPhone 5C made their commercial debut on Sept. 20. Apple sold a whopping nine million units within the new handsets' first three days of availability. During the same period last year, the company sold five million iPhone 5 handsets.

The company has not offered a breakdown of how many iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C smartphones it sold separately, but the wide belief is that the higher-end model outsold the plastic one by far.

The WSJ further notes that a number of carriers have cut the price of the iPhone 5C in recent weeks, which again suggests that the smartphone is not very popular.