According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, tech giant Apple has pushed back the mass production of its flagship 2020 iPhones due to the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic.
The Wall Street Journal reports that tech giant Apple will be pushing back the production of its flagship 2020 iPhones. The move reportedly is a result of the coronavirus pandemic weakening global consumer demand and disrupting manufacturing throughout Asia.
Apple still reportedly plans to release four new iPhone models later in 2020 according to sources familiar with Apple’s plans. The iPhones will have 5G connectivity, will vary in price, and come in three sizes, 5.4 inches, two measuring 6.1 inches, and one at 6.7 inches. All of the models will feature organic light-emitting diode (OLED) screens.
Apple is reportedly slashing the number of handsets that it plans to make in the second half of 2020 by as much as 20 percent according to one source. Foxconn Technology Group, Apple’s largest supplier and assembler of iPhones in China, has halted hiring at the firm’s main iPhone production plant in Zhengzhou in recent weeks.
Investors and analysts have been expecting a shipment delay of the new iPhones since Apple said in February that it would miss revenue projections for the current quarter partly due to the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic. Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi said in a recent report that investors shouldn’t worry too much about a delay unless Apple fails to ship the new iPhones before the 2020 holiday season which has historically been the firm’s biggest sales period.
Recently, Apple more than doubled its donations to China’s efforts to fight the coronavirus giving 50 million yuan ($7 million) to the country. Apple CEO Tim Cook posted about the donation on Chinese social media app Weibo just a few weeks after the company re-opened all 42 of its stores in China, shortly before closing all other stores around the world.
Apple has already given around 20 million yuan of its promised donation amount to the Beijing-based China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation to support six hospitals in Hubei including a makeshift hospital set up in Leishenshan in Wuhan. “China has shown incredible spirit and resilience during the COVID-19 outbreak and we are grateful to our teams, partners and customers for their support during these challenging times,” Cook said in his post on Weibo.
Breitbart News reported last month that in a post to the Apple Newsroom tech giant Apple announced that it would be closing all stores outside of China shortly after reopening all of its stores in the country.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or contact via secure email at the address lucasnolan@protonmail.com
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