As the coronavirus continues to spread, the impact the virus continues to have on the tech industry is pronounced. Just yesterday, for example, the GSMA canceled this year’s Mobile World Congress, with GSMA CEO John Hoffman noting that the virus all but made it “impossible” to proceed with the biggest mobile trade show of the year.
What’s more, the coronavirus may also have an impact on Apple’s highly anticipated iPhone 12. As we detailed last week, the coronavirus prompted Apple to stop sending engineers to China to participate in Engineering Validation Tests (EVT). As a point of reference, EVT is one step below Design Validation Testing (DVT) which comes into play when Apple firmly nails down the exact iPhone design and features it plans to ship to consumers.
Consequently, there have been a few reports claiming that the iPhone 12 release date might be pushed back slightly on account of various production delays.
A more recent report from DigiTimes, however, relays that the coronavirus’ impact on iPhone 12 production and the iPhone 12 release date may be less severe than initially believed. The report specifically notes that Apple is still planning to introduce the iPhone 12 at a special event in September and that the device will, in fact, be available for purchase shortly thereafter. While it’s still possible that iPhone 12 supply may be a bit constrained at launch, it seems as if a full-fledged delay isn’t likely.
Further, we’ve seen reports indicating that Apple is also working hard to shift some of its iPhone production to Taiwan just to be on the safe side.
All told, it’s worth noting that everything still remains up in the air as medical and health professionals are still working diligently to stop the spread of the coronavirus. To date, the coronavirus — which originated in Wuhan, China — has infected more than 60,000 people across 25 countries.
