by , 12:30 PM EDT, July 31st, 2007

Apple's stock began sliding down after analysts at Miller Tabak & Co. speculated that the company is drastically cutting back its iPhone production. The firm claimed that the iPhone maker is cutting back its output from 9 million units to 4.5 million, according to TheStreet.com.

Although Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer stated that the company was pleased with opening weekend sales, the 270,000 figure reported fell below some analyst's expectations. In some cases, those estimates topped 500,000 units.

Apple's stock took a hit last week after AT&T announced that it had activated 146,000 iPhones in the first day and a half the combination iPod and smart phone was available since many investors saw that as a sign of slow initial sales. By the time Apple announced its third quarter earnings on Wednesday, however, the stock was rebounding, and at one point shot up near $150.

While the company does not offer information on how many units it plans to produce for any of its products, executives did state that sales are on track to hit the one million mark by the end of September.

Apple is currently trading at $136.77, down 4.66 (3.29%).