The situation might not bode well for Apple as far as its biggest money-making arm, the iPhone series is concerned. As a lot of you know, the iPhone 12 lineup is expected to launch in the coming weeks, but due to the pandemic, Apple may have been forced to delay the unveiling. The pandemic might also have an adverse impact on iPhone 12 shipments, at least those that support 5G mmWave networks, according to revered analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
Lowered iPhone 12 Shipments Estimate Is Due to the Pandemic Creating Hurdles in 5G mmWave Base Station Deployment
Fresh insight from the TF International Securities analyst state that the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a delay in the installation of 5G base stations. Since the installation number is lower than expected, it will immediately have an adverse impact on the iPhone 12 shipments. According to Kuo, mmWave 5G iPhone 12 shipments in 2020 and 2021 will only reach 4-6 million and 25 million respectively, making it nearly a 50 percent reduction compared to an earlier shipments forecast, which pegged the estimates at 10-20 million units for 2020 and 40-50 million units for 2021.
However, the overall estimate for this year is still expected to be a respectable figure, as a previous report from DigiTimes states that Apple may ship up to 68 million iPhone 12 units in 2020. Though it’s less compared to what the iPhone 11 series accumulated in 2019, it’s still impressive considering that there’s an ongoing pandemic. Then again, we shouldn’t be this optimistic because DigiTimes previously also spoke of a 50 percent reduction of mmWave 5G iPhone 12 shipments and while no reasoning was provided, it’s possible these estimates were revised because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Do keep in mind that this year’s iPhone 12 lineup will support both mmWave and sub-6GHz networks, so even in regions where there’s little to no mmWave support, your future iPhone 12 will still be able to run on a sub-6GHz network. As for 2020 and 2021, do you think Apple will be able to bounce back in terms of shipments despite the ongoing pandemic? Tell us your thoughts down in the comments.
News Source: iMore
