Apple iPhone SE 2, iPhone 12 Launch Reportedly Delayed Due To Coronavirus Outbreak

The outbreak of the novel coronavirus is now showing the world’s reliance on China’s production prowess. But the necessary precautions taken by China to prevent and contain the spread of the virus has already and will show its effects on the supply chain of products. According to an investor note from Bank of America (BofA), the iPhone SE 2 – that was rumoured to launch in March – can now be announced up to 2 months later. The “iPhone 12”, too, is expected to be delayed by up to a month.

The contents of the investor note were detailed in a report by Bloomberg. According to the report, BofA cited a conversation with Elliot Lan, an expert on Apple’s supply chain.

Another BofA analyst Wamsi Mohan says that the timeline of the launch of the upcoming iPhones will now largely “depend on how production ramps back up in April and May.”

The delays are not completely surprising as the repercussions of the outbreak were projected by analysts in January. Most Apple products are assembled by Foxconn in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou. While Foxconn claimed that its production wouldn’t get affected with the outbreak in January, mandatory shutdowns and the placement of many of Foxconn’s season workers in quarantine completely halted production.

Due to the coronavirus slowdown, Foxconn very recently reported its biggest YoY revenue drop since 2013. Although, the company expects to resume production by the end of March. This optimism in getting the wheels to work again is likely related to China seeing a slowdown in cases of coronavirus since its inception.

If not the US-China trade war, the outbreak of coronavirus has definitely shown how interdependent the global economy is. In some ways, it’s also shed light on the world’s – if I may – overreliance on China for production. Now is the right time for multinational corporations to think about diversifying their supply chain.