The outbreak of the corona virus is also affecting the tech industry. Apple warned earlier this month that sales in the current quarter will be lower than expected. Demand for iPhones is falling sharply in China due to the virus outbreak and the company is also suffering from disruptions in the supply chain. This can have consequences for the arrival of the iPhone SE2.
Apple has many suppliers in China and given that many factories have been closed for a long time due to the outbreak of the contagious disease, production starts longer than expected. As a result, Apple does not expect to meet the revenue forecast for the first quarter of this year.
Shortages
The limited production in China also ensures that there are temporary shortages of iPhones. The question now is whether the launch of a new iPhone is delayed. Rumor has it that Apple is working on a successor to the iPhone SE, the budget phone from 2016.
Apple suppliers would have started this month to assemble the smartphone. The new iPhone SE2 (the name iPhone 9 is also not yet off the table) would then according to rumors already appear in March, but there were doubts about this after Apple warned that there are production problems due to the virus outbreak.
On schedule anyway
from reporting however, it is clear from press agency Bloomberg that Apple is still on track with the launch of the iPhone SE 2 next month. Some sources say to the news agency that the budget phone should still appear in March, although the plans are not yet set in stone.
The German website iPhone ticker states that Apple wants to organize an event at the end of March, possibly on Tuesday 31 March. During the event, Apple could unveil the iPhone SE 2, after which the phone will be in stores from Friday, April 3, according to the iPhone ticker.
IPad Pro 2020 also in March
There are also rumors that Apple is getting ready to launch new iPad Pro models in the first half of this year. According to Bloomberg, however, it is not impossible that the virus will throw these plans into the water.
The Taiwanese tech website Digitimes writes that the 2020 version of the iPad Pro may also be released in March, suggesting that Apple will release both a new iPhone and iPad Pro at the same time. It seems unlikely that this is (still) the plan, given Apple’s recent warning.
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