Apple is one of the companies hit hard by the new coronavirus outbreak, with the company not only canceling some of its tech events, including the WWDC set for June, but also considering a delay for the upcoming iPhone 12.
People close to the matter said Apple postponing the iPhone 12 is something that’s very likely, and some analysts even predicted that the launch could be pushed back by several months. In the worst case scenario, the iPhone 12 with 5G capabilities could end up going live in 2021, some say,
But according to a report today from Bloomberg, that’s not what Apple wants.
The Cupertino-based tech giant hasn’t given up on the plan to launch the iPhone 12 with 5G support in the fall.
And by the looks of things, this ambitious plan could work well, as Foxconn, which is Apple’s biggest supplier, is slowly returning to the normal production levels after its plants were closed due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The supply chain struggle
And with Foxconn recovering, there’s hope that the production of the iPhone 12 could be unaffected, especially because the manufacturing of the device was supposed to kick off in the summer anyway. In other words, Apple hopes that the production impact would be very reduced to a point where a delay isn’t necessary.
But while Foxconn is slowly returning to normal operations, the biggest challenge for Apple is its collaboration with the rest of suppliers, which are also hit hard by the pandemic. Some factories are still closed, and with the new coronavirus still expanding in more and more countries, there’s a chance their operations would also be affected.
The debut of the new iPhone 9, often referred to as the second-generation iPhone SE, has already been impacted by the pandemic, as the device was expected to go live in March. No specifics are now available as to when it could go live.
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