Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Apple’s next-gen 5G-capable flagship iPhones are still on schedule to launch in the fall as mass production isn’t set to begin until May, Bloomberg News reports, citing sources who “asked not to be identified discussing private supply chain issues.”
According to TF International Securities’ uber-analyst Ming-Chi Kuo Apple is said to be basing the forthcoming 5G-capable “iPhone 12” design on the iPhone 4/4S/5 which is widely considered to be Apple’s best-ever iPhone design. Apple’s iPhone 12 lineup will feature a new design with flat metal edges around the perimeter.
Mark Gurman and Debby Wu for Bloomberg:
An Apple spokesman declined to comment. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook, the architect of the company’s China-focused supply chain, said Feb. 28 that production issues would be a “temporary condition.”
Apple’s assembly factories in China, run mainly by Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., were in low gear for much of February. The manufacturing giant, also known as Foxconn, hopes to begin operating normally by the end of March…
One person who works in Apple’s supply chain said not all operations are moving at normal speed because the flow of components to assemble is still slow. It will take another month or more to get parts moving steadily through the system, the person added.
MacDailyNews Take: Supply chain reports that Apple’s next-gen 5G iPhone launch remains on schedule is certainly a glimmer of light at the end of this coronavirus tunnel!
