Foxconn Has Reportedly Seen 'Fairly Small Impact' From Coronavirus Outbreak, But That Could Change

Glad to hear they are following the rules. Personally I’d rather they prioritise human life over manufacturing, if experts recommend a further closure then I hope they do that too. At the end of the day if my 12 down the road gets delayed for a month I really don’t care.

Who cares about iPad Pros?

I and a lot of other people on MacRumors, of course.

From a personal point of view, I have very little interest in the iPhone 9 / SE2, because nobody in my family will be buying one. As for the fall iPhones, I suspect the 2019-nCoV outbreak will have little impact on those, unless this outbreak reaches near-apocalyptic proportions.

Have people never ever seen pictures of Chinese iPhone/iPad factory workers in their assembly lines? Uhhhhhhh.... many of them were already wearing protective masks. Like billions of years ago. The factories simply have to change the mask types to the ones that also provide anti-microbial protection. Below are images of FoxConn employees from years ago, long before the coronavirus outbreak. 😷








Yes, not all factory workers wear masks (in certain production areas where they are deemed unnecessary). But the factory could easily mandate that they all do when there are dozens/hundreds of employees present in one gigantic assembly room working alongside each other. Easily done.

So YES, I am inclined to believe FoxConn when they say there could be just "fairly small impact" on production. Yes, the coronavirus will have an impact. But things like diligent masking, PPD, policies to send home workers (or tell them to stay home) who show signs symptoms (cough, fever, etc), and use of other protection could very well minimize the impact.

I am shocked Mac Rumors would even write the story and people here would give a crap about some first world problem like OMG a delay in a $399 iPhone or any other product. This is a global pandemic that could alter the world. It’s time we all think first and foremost about how people are affected in a potential worldwide crisis rather than our precious iPhones or AAPL stock. Life matters, and stopping the virus matters - it’s not about corporate profits or God forbid a delayed iPad Pro!

Err... It's an Apple rumour site. It says so right in the name. Of course they're going to write about potential Apple product delays.

In fact, I think they'd be remiss NOT to talk about it.

If factories go back to work on 10th as scheduled then losses can be made up easily but if China extends this another 10 days chaos will start for many around China. Markets will see a huge correction if we see a 10 day extension. Next quarter earnings will also miss expected earnings then for Apple.

Who cares about iPad Pros? The iPhone is what going to break AAPL in 2020.

Apple will have to decide where to send their limited stock of the iPhone: keep it in China, where iPhone is in a major battle against Huawei, or to send it to the Western countries, where Apple is in a major battle against Samsung.

It appears to me that the iPhones will be sent to the developed countries because Samsung is not going to be affected by the Chinese epidemic, since they moved all their smartphone manufacturing out of China last year. So, with the shortage of the iPhones in the Western world, Samsung will take a significant percentage of the market share from Apple.

As for Huawei, they will most likely face the same challenges with reduced manufacturing capabilities as Apple-Foxconn partnership, so the war with Huawei for the Chinese marketshare will not be meaningful until the epidemic subsides.

People who buy iPhoned will continue to buy iPhones. It doesn't matter if they have to wait. We've waited for the X, we've waited for AirPods Pro, and we'll wait for the 12 if we have to. I won't get a S20 or a note11 even if it's free.