Apple iPhone supply might dip by 10 percent due to coronavirus outbreak: Kuo

The recent coronavirus outbreak in China has affected not only people’s lives in China but big tech giants as well. This also affects Apple’s iPhone supply in the Chinese market. As per the latest report by MacRumours, Noted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes that the virus outbreak in China will affect iPhone supply in the region. He has thus lowered his shipment forecast by 10 percent to 36-40 million units in Q1 2020. Kuo reportedly says that smartphone shipments in China have declined by 50-60 percent year-over-year during the Chinese New Year holiday period. According to him, this decline is probably because of the declining consumer confidence in the country stemming from the coronavirus outbreak". (Also read:  Coronavirus outbreak FAQ: Face masks, safe meat, tips to stay safe from the deadly airborne infection ) Apple has also recently closed all its stores in mainland China until 9 February due to the outbreak. In related news, Apple is expected to launch quite a handful of devices in the next few months. Kuo had earlier suggested that Apple is likely to launch Ultra Wideband tags, high-end wireless headphones, a 4.7-inch iPhone, refreshed iPad Pro models, and refreshed MacBook Pro and/or MacBook Air models in the first half of 2020. It is also rumoured that Apple will launch a low-cost iPhone in March this year and it could be named as iPhone SE 2 or iPhone 9, which might retail around $399.