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Apple Issues Upgrade Warning For Millions Of iPhone Users – Forbes


Apple has had a difficult week, and now the company has confirmed it is about to get worse for both customers and investors. (02/19 updates below revealing further delays)

Apple iPhone SE2: Everything We Know So Far [Updated]

Forbes Gordon Kelly

Kicking things off is a statement from Apple warning investors that “worldwide iPhone supply” has been hit by the Coronavirus to the extent that stock shortages will “affect revenues worldwide” and the company will no longer meet its Q2 2020 revenue guidance. The company also confirms that iPhone demand has (understandably) also been badly affected in China and “The situation is evolving”. But this is just the start, because upcoming iPhone models are affected as well.

02/19 Update: things are snowballing with a new report from Bloomberg stating that Apple’s upcoming iPad Pro refresh could also now be in doubt due to the Coronavirus. The site says that Apple does still hope to launch the iPhone 9 in March “though the plans are still fluid”. In an attempt to mitigate this, Taiwan News claims that Apple has started to move some of its manufacturing from China to Taiwan with AirPods, iPads and Apple Watch production among the first to go. “Apple is trying to diversify its supply chain geographically due to the spread of the virus, which has seriously affected the production of Apple products… It is estimated that at least one-third of China’s production lines will lay idle in the first quarter of this year,” its insiders reveal.

02/19 Update 2: beware a new video which has gone viral today on TikTok today claiming to show off the first hands-on with a working iPhone SE2 / iPhone 9. The video is fooling several major sites as the phone’s appearance matches many of the leaks and appears to have a working version of iOS. But look more closely and things start to fall apart. For a start, iOS doesn’t look quite right and it appears that the creator is running a skinned version of Android. In addition to this, the chassis matches the leaks to for the leaked iPhone 12 design with sharper angles more reminiscent of the iPhone 4, rather than the iPhone 8-matching curves the device is expected to have. (Quick update: yes, busted)

Prominent Asian news site Nikkei reveals that the launch of Apple’s exciting new iPhone SE2 / iPhone 9 is now “likely” to be badly affected while the real shock is Nikkei states it could even impact the main iPhone 12 launch later this year. Apple has also been preparing updated iPad Pro models with a new camera system for the first half of 2020 and the virus may yet impose delays or constraints on those plans (edit: new update above).

“The suppliers are doing their best to produce and ship the [cheaper] iPhone within four weeks…The delay can’t be too long, otherwise it will affect the sales strategy of Apple’s new products in the second half of this year,” revealed a Nikkei source with direct knowledge of the matter. 

For the iPhone 9, the hit is immediate. Nikkei says mass production was set to start in February but now “multiple sources say meeting that target is now very challenging and production could be delayed until sometime in March.” Will Apple stick to the iPhone 9 March launch when it has no stock to sell afterwards? Possibly, but it would go against the grain of the company’s ethos which is to deliver wide availability on day one. 

For the iPhone 12, concerns deepen thanks to another Nikkei source who explains that “The constrained supply of iPhones will likely extend to April. There are still a lot of hurdles, from labor shortages to logistics transportation. The biggest uncertainty is still lingering as no one can be sure whether the coronavirus is under control.”

Apple iPhone 12: Everything We Know So Far [Updated]

Forbes Gordon Kelly

And this all comes at a time Apple’s increasingly ambitious iPhone 12 plans were taking shape. The next-generation iPhone range will not only be the company’s first 5G models, they will deliver major upgrades to all core features, including a 120Hz ProMotion display (with new screen sizes) a long-range 3D camera capable of mapping your immediate environment, an A14 chipset tipped to match the MacBook Pro and some even expect the return of Touch ID via an in-display sensor to work in conjunction with Face ID (here’s why). 

That said, it’s important to keep things in perspective. The human tragedy of the Coronavirus is stark and perhaps the biggest threat to its control is companies losing perspective, rushing workers back and causing an even bigger outbreak. 

iPhones can wait. 

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