Historically, the Monday after each new iPhone launch begins with a press release from Apple where the company boasts about how many new devices it sold over the weekend. And more often than not, each new iPhone release enjoys a more successful launch than the previous launch.

But with the iPhone 7, Apple has decided to switch things up. For the first time in history, Apple not be releasing weekend launch sales figures for its new iPhone. In a statement provided to CNBC, Apple explained the rationale behind its somewhat surprising decision. Specifically, Apple believes that its weekend launch sales press release has become outdated, primarily because supply is always an ongoing issue. In other words, even if the iPhone 7 sells out, and Apple believes that it will, sales figures don’t provide a truly accurate or representative gauge as to the true demand for the device.

Apple's full statement can be read below.

JUST IN: Apple says it will not be releasing iPhone pre-order numbers as it traditionally has in the past. pic.twitter.com/kGXfPcUkKB — CNBC Now (@CNBCnow) September 8, 2016

Now on one hand this makes a lot of sense. Looking back over the past few years, Apple has traditionally experienced some struggles trying to match up its supply with demand. To that end, it’s not as if Apple is simply coming up with an excuse out of thin air. At the same time, it’s hard not to see Apple’s decision as being somewhat colored by fear that its new iPhone 7 models won’t outsell last year’s record-setting iPhone 6s weekend launch.

In fairness to Apple, word is that the new iPhone 7 models are extremely challenging to manufacture and, in turn, yields are expected to be lower until Apple’s manufacturing partners get a better handle on production. From this perspective, it would make sense for Apple to want to keep sales figures under wraps as to not unjustly punish the stock as investors typically afford far too much importance to those first weekend sales figures.