Apple is expected to finally launch the long-awaited iPhone SE successor the iPhone SE 2 around March this year. The company also seems to have big plans in place for the upcoming iPhone with the latest analyst report claiming Apple aims to sell close to six million iPhone SE 2 models in early 2020. But before you get any excited, there's a bit of disappointing news – the iPhone SE 2 might just get delayed and it has something to do with the Coronavirus outbreak.
Now, we all know that the recent Coronavirus outbreak has affected human lives with the death tolls rising with each passing day. The deadly epidemic seems to have affect the iPhone SE 2 release too. If the latest report from Nikkei is to be believed Apple could push the launch date of the iPhone SE 2 thanks to the Coronavirus outbreak in China.
iPhone SE 2 production could get affected due to Coronavirus
According to the report citing information from Apple's Asian supply chain, the outbreak of the Novel Coronavirus will impact the production at Apple's factories in China. The sources claim that Apple's Chinese factories won't be able to keep up with the production demand of the upcoming iPhone due to the Coronavirus outbreak.
Meanwhile, a recent analysis by Cowen analyst and Managing Director Krish Sankar suggested that Apple is planning to sell around six million units of the upcoming budget iPhone in the first quarter of 2020. In fact Apple reportedly has placed orders for close to 15 million iPhone SE 2 models to meet the early demand, but suppliers suspect the Coronavirus outbreak to have a negative impact on the production schedules.
iPhone 12 product will not be impacted
Meanwhile, the report suggests that the production of the upcoming 5G-supported iPhone 12 series will not be affected by this. However, Apple could decide to release the iPhone SE 2 at a later point of time to give the factories enough time to produce all the phones that it would need to meet demand.
Additionally, as per the sources, customers could expect to find fewer iPhone 11 series phones in the market for some time, owing to a slowed-down production at Apple's Chinese factories.
What has the Coronavirus outbreak got to do with Apple?
The Novel Coronavirus is a family of viruses that causes respiratory illnesses in the affected people. It was first reported in December last year in Wuhan City, Hubei Province China where the WHO was alerted to several cases of pneumonia.
The Hubei Province borders with Henan Province which houses one of Apple's biggest manufacturing units. The other major production plant is located in Guangdong, South-east China which has a very large population and it's susceptible that the virus could spread very quickly in these provinces.
The Coronavirus outbreak has not just affected normal life in China but has also sent the world into a harrowing state of mind. Case of Coronavirus have been reported in other countries of the world and over 100 people have succumbed to the deadly epidemic so far and the numbers or only going up with each passing day.
We won't complain
It's quite understandable and obvious that containing the deadly outbreak and protecting the health of the factory workers is more important for Apple than churning out iPhones and so we shouldn't complain if the iPhone SE 2 gets delayed a bit.
