Travel restrictions to China and the closure of factories as a preventive measure against the threat of COVID-19 have led to delays in the production of the new iPhone.
The arrival of the new generation of the iPhone, which is usually presented in September, could be postponed this year due to the outbreak of the coronavirus. This is an international health emergency that has led Apple to take drastic measures to protect its workers and prevent the spread of the disease.
One of them is the increase in travel restrictions to China, a provision that has been made precisely when Apple engineers usually move to Asia to meet with suppliers and manufacturers to improve iPhone production, former employees and experts reported in the supply chain to Reuters.
This situation would adversely affect the production schedule of the iPhone 12, because despite the fact that the high-volume manufacturing of the phone has just started from the third quarter, it is during the first months of the year that Apple plans assembly processes with partners such as Foxconn .
After the Lunar New Year holiday ends at the end of January, Apple is already in February in the final stages of engineering validation, where Foxconn assembles a small number of devices for engineers of both companies to solve problems of manufacturing.
A former Apple employee said that if engineers have not been able to meet personally, “that could be bad.” For its part, Reuters said that “if there are delays at this stage, it would consume the time Apple needs to finalize orders for chips and other parts, almost all custom-made for the iPhone.”
Although the technology giant works with other partners, being the largest manufacturer of contract electronics in the world, Foxconn usually manages the production of the brand’s new phones due to its more advanced capabilities. However, the company delayed the reopening of its factories in China due to the extension of the Lunar New Year holidays.
Apple has recently warned investors that they “do not expect to meet” revenue targets for the first quarter of 2020, because worldwide iPhone supply will be limited and because demand for its products in China has been affected , after closing several stores in that country.
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Colin has been working in the business industry for quite a sometime and he recently made the decision to become a full-time business journalist. At Daily Research News, he also helps us take care of the business writing.
