On April 26th, according to foreign media reports, with the spread of the epidemic, Apple may face the biggest challenge in history when it plans to develop the next generation of iPhone.
Apple usually releases new iPhone flagship products every September, and this year's flagship product will be more important than most years in history. This new iPhone was originally Apple's first mobile phone that supports 5G mobile networks. Apple competitor Samsung has released a smartphone that supports 5G networks a year in advance. Many Apple observers also expect Apple to make major design changes to the iPhone, which will also be the first design innovation since the iPhone X came out in 2017.
But it is believed that Apple is currently considering postponing the launch of the new iPhone. Employees at the company ’s Silicon Valley headquarters have to work from home, which poses a series of challenges for Apple ’s heavily-guarded product development process; the complex supply chain that the company depends on has slowed down. In addition, even if Apple can produce the iPhone on time, the global economic downturn means that many potential buyers will hold their wallets tight.
Dan Wang, an analyst at Jiafu Longzhou Technology, a Beijing economic research company, said: "Normally, the electronics supply chain is almost entirely located in East Asia, but the supply chain is indeed very deep. Although foundries such as Foxconn are in a very favorable position, we do not Know if it will break somewhere. As long as one component is not in place in time, the entire production process will be interrupted. "
Normally, the production of the new iPhone will be as late as possible to prevent details from being leaked, but it is planned a few months or years in advance. At the beginning of the year, the American engineering team often stayed in China for a few weeks to communicate with manufacturing employees who assembled mobile phones. But now these communications must be conducted through video telephony.
David Collins, a former Foxconn executive and head of manufacturing consulting firm CMC, said that Foxconn and another manufacturing company Wistron, which is partnering with Apple, may face a shortage of talent, forcing manufacturers to spend time training new workers.
Of course, Apple is in a better position than most companies. As Foxconn's largest customer, Apple can be treated specially; Apple will not have any worries about transferring skilled employees from other projects to manufacturing iPhones.
Leaving aside the epidemic, Apple's delay in releasing new iPhones has become more and more common. The 2017 iPhone X was released in November, not September. In the same year, Apple HomePod smart speakers missed Christmas. Other products, such as some models of Apple Watch and AirPod headphones, are in short supply.
But this year, a long delay in product launches — even to the New Year — may be more disruptive. Apple has warned that when it releases its quarterly earnings report next week, it will not be able to achieve its expected results.
Goldman Sachs estimates that if the new iPhone is postponed until November, it may bring about $ 18 billion in revenue loss to Apple and cause sales to decline by 14% year-on-year.
However, Dan Wang said that Apple may postpone the launch of the new iPhone for another reason: no one bought it. "What is highly uncertain is demand, not supply. If there is a 20% unemployment rate, how much do consumers want to spend money on a $ 1,300 iPhone? This is the real problem facing (Apple)."
According to the latest foreign media reports, this year's sudden outbreak has forced Apple to choose the wrong iPhone 12 model, so that it can have more time to stock up. After all, the series includes four 5G models.
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The report quoted some analysts as saying that Apple will launch four iPhone 12s this year, all using OLED panels and supporting 5G connections. The cheapest iPhone 12 may use a 5.4-inch screen, priced between US $ 600 and US $ 700. The most expensive is within 5,000 yuan, and the cheapest may just start at 4,200 yuan.
