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Coronavirus crisis could heavily impact iPhone 12 sales, suggests Digitimes; references blue model

A Digitimes Research report suggests that the economic hit caused by the coronavirus crisis could heavily hit initial iPhone 12 sales.

It suggests that early sales could be lower than those seen for the iPhone 11 last year …

Digitimes outlined the headline finding.

Global shipments of the next-generation iPhone devices (tentatively named iPhone 12 lineup) are expected to total 63-68 million in the second half of 2020, a reduction of over five million units compared to the amount shipped a year earlier for the iPhone 11 lineup, according to the latest forecast of Digitimes Research.

The projection comes as the timings for volume production and official launch of the new iPhone series are likely to lag four to six weeks behind original schedules affected by the coronavirus pandemic, Digitimes Research said.

It goes on to suggest that the number could change significantly depending on the outcome of a Congressional plan to extend federal supplements to unemployment benefits.

The pending amount of extra unemployment benefits to be released by the US government could affect the scale of actual shipments of the iPhone 12 lineup by as many as 10 million units in second-half 2020.

The additional $600 a week initially provided by the US government came to an end last month, and although there is a plan to extend it at a reduced rate of $300, USA Today reports that Congress has not yet reached agreement on implementing this.

Cody Waymack and his wife are struggling to survive with their two children after the extra $600 a week in federal unemployment benefits expired in late July. Now the family is living off each of their weekly state unemployment checks: $96 and $48 […]

“It was a heartbreaker,” says Waymack, 32, who has seen his apartment complex post eviction notices on his neighbors’ doors this month. He’s worried his family will be next because they can’t afford to pay their rent come Sept. 1.

Waymack is angry that Congress didn’t extend the $600 federal supplement before going on recess until Labor Day […]

Americans hold Republicans and Democrats alike on Capitol Hill responsible for the lapse in jobless aid, according to a recent report from Morning Consult, a market research firm. Roughly 35% of voters blame Republicans for the expiration, the same share who blame Democrats, while another 27% hold Trump accountable. 

It should be noted that the Digitimes report is a pessimistic one compared to analyst expectations of an iPhone super-cycle triggered by the first 5G models. Apple was originally said to be forecasting more than 100 million iPhone 12 sales in 2020 before the coronavirus hit, and while the consensus expectation is now lower, most analysts still expect it to outsell last year’s iPhone 11.

The Digitimes report also references ‘a dark blue model,’ though no source is cited, so this may simply be echoing a June report rather than providing a second source.

Render: SvetApple

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Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Ben Lovejoy

Ben Lovejoy is a British technology writer and EU Editor for 9to5Mac. He’s known for his op-eds and diary pieces, exploring his experience of Apple products over time, for a more rounded review. He also writes fiction, with two technothriller novels, a couple of SF shorts and a rom-com!


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