Though there have been reports of Apple moving the production activities of some of its products out of China to Taiwan, the main iPhone 12 production could be hit if the coronavirus is not fully controlled in the next few days. The problem is that even if the factories within China were functioning, Apple’s technical team has to go there and approve the devices after they are put through Engineering Valuation Tests or EVTs. Apple has stopped its engineers from reaching China because of the virus scare.
iPhone SE2 May Still be on Track
The report on the disturbance in the iPhone 12 production in China, however, reports that the company’s plans to launch the budget model, the iPhone SE2 or iPhone 9 may not be affected. This may be due to the fact that the iPhone SE2 may be getting made in a region not so seriously affected by the virus risk. Not all regions of China have been reporting the virus. A place like Wuhan is said to be the epicenter of the outbreak, other cities and regions are carrying on business as usual.
The timeline for the iPhones released in Fall each year is the event held in the month of September following which shipments commence immediately. As things stand, it appears that the production of iPhone 12 models may not begin before June this year. If things don’t worsen from here, there is every possibility that the overall schedule may not be disturbed. If at all, there could be a week or a fortnight’s delay in the process of shipping or the desired volumes may be difficult to arrange.
For some models, the company can fall back on places like India to make the devices. There are four models being predicted for release this Fall. One of them, the entry-level iPhone 12 will have a 5.4-inch display, two models will sport 6.1-inch displays and the top model 6.7-inch display.
More updates on the status of production of the 2020 iPhones may be coming through in the next few days.