Apple might delay the release of its upcoming 5G iPhone by several months, disrupting what’s become an annual iPhone cycle, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Nikkei Asian Review reported early Thursday.
Apple’s rumored iPhone 12 designTo be frank, I don’t think such a decision has yet been made and we still have another month or two before Apple has to finalize a schedule.
Yet, the current supply chain woes are real and could persist beyond a return to relative normalcy in China… At stake is more than $260 billion in annual procurement 1 by Apple alone, with satellite companies such as makers of accessories, cases, and software also likely to be affected. While the world will be sad about putting so much of regular life on hold including the quadrennial Olympic display of citius, altius, fortius, pushing back the annual iPhone cycle could have an impact that goes far deeper than Apple investors and the devotees who line up at dawn to buy a handset…
[A delay] would mean unemployment for factory workers and reduced salaries or job cuts among the rest, which will have a ripple effect throughout China’s economy just as its own virus storm looks to have passed. Those companies that make iPhone cases, screen covers, and other accessories need a new handset — and the accompanying buzz — to drive their own revenue. Any delay could be devastating amid what’s already set to be a global economic slowdown.
MacDailyNews Take: Yes, more than ever, the world needs Apple’s annual iPhone cycle. And we bet the world will get it, too. With “iPhone 5G,” the multi-year Mother of all iPhone Super Cycles will finally be here this autumn!
The Whole Wide World!