China Cantor

Each year in the autumn, Mazen Kourouche heads of the largest Apple Store in Sydney, Australia, and the queue for hours to be one of The First people in The World to have its hands on the latest iPhone.

"Because of the iPhone 7 came out I was already a queue for the new Apple devices for a couple of reasons: first, connected The Hype with them, and, secondly, because the re-sale value, and thirdly, because Australia is The First country to have access to the devices, so that the people are interested to hear about it," he says.

According to Mr Kourouche, who developed software for the iPhone Operating System (iOS), many people would usually travel from overseas to get their hands on the iPhone in Australia. The Nation 's Time -zone means its Apple stores are The First , the round-the-world on The Launch day.

This year is different though, could be. Like most other retailers, Apple has included its business around The World in response to the Corona-Virus outbreak.

It is still too early to say whether the shops will be open again in Time for the market introduction of the new devices in the autumn.

the Situation in some countries is not encouraging. In the UK the government has said that it is between three to six months, before Normal Life is resumed, and that includes the re-opening of non-essential shops.

In the case of Apple, its iPhone-12 in the start. It is a very important phone because it is The First to integrate, 5G technology, which allows it to connect with the New Generation of faster mobile networks.

sources, Nikkei said that the Japanese publication that Apple is weighing up whether to delay.

The same applies for devices of The Company Samsung and other competitors that use the Android Operating System .

the production of phones has yet to be disturbed

"About 70% of the smartphones made in China , as the pandemic hit China , there are significant fault in the power supply of the existing equipment," says Razat Gaurav, chief executive of Llamasoft, a supply chain analytics company.

Many of the smartphone makers rely on components that are made in China and South Korea , Two Nations that have been hardest hit by the outbreak.

The South Korean city of Daegu, where most of the country coronavirus cases are grouped, is only 20 Minutes away from the area where many of these components are manufactured.

And it's not just supply, demand is drastically reduced. Shipments of smartphones in China fell by 40% in The First quarter of 2020, compared with the same period Last Year , according to market research firm IDC.

The Company proposes that the Chinese consumers will buy 33 million fewer mobile phones in The First three months of the year.

"We are likely to see significant drops in Western Europe and the United States," Gaurav adds.

The impact on existing devices a concern of The Device manufacturer, But it will be the impact on their new devices of greater importance, especially as fans of Apple and Android devices are used at certain times of the year when you can buy a New Device , while the manufacturers rely on this As One of the largest sources of revenue each year.

"The smartphone is a complex product, and there are so many components that go into it. The source of all of these different parts, you get materials and parts from over 40 different countries," says Gaurav.

the Various parts of the production will be affected in different ways.

"a Lot of the design work does not require any significant social contacts, so that you have to be in close proximity to people," says Frank Gillett, an analyst at research firm Forrester.

But there may be some research and development work requires special equipment, the employees can take home with you.

A lot of this work already, for devices, set this year to start, But it might hinder The Device starts in the year 2021, The Company is already ahead of Time .

According to Emile Naus, partner at the consulting firm BearingPoint does not save, The Most important part of The Phone is the hardware, the software, and these can be developed from the distance. However, you can Test to perform The Device may be harder.

"the Test can be difficult, since the industry is very tight on the security, and you would probably struggle with the concept of the people to take home to Test prototypes of The Phone - since these are mostly shrouded in mystery," he says.

The Other question is about shipping; many airlines to suspend flights, as well as delays in the sea freight, there is A Chance that the materials and components that can not get, Assembly plants, and that the finished product is not at retail.

The impact of this and of the China factory closures, only now starting to curl down in the smartphone industry, and the impact could be greater than expected.

Mr Gillett is of the opinion that the likes of Apple and Samsung are more likely to Hold Back the start of certain functions for new devices as the delay. The Time , certain functions were tested, or for software developers to be able to work on applications that use these functions is critical.

obviously, a Lot depends on what happens in The Coming months. Restrictions on delivery and shipping could force a delay in business, product launches, and perhaps may even be held back until 2021.

If the shops remain closed, then this could be a particular problem in the case of Apple, which is a major retail network.

"We know that you are living in The First weeks and months of this new equipment, "sales is very important, because they are sold at the highest levels," says Mr Naus.

the demand for the new devices can also vary, as spending serious amounts of money for the latest model can be an option for households in financial difficulties.

However, Forrester does not see brands make big changes to The Price of your new mobile phones. Instead, they lower the prices more to their older models, and perhaps strengthen, The Number of entry-level price models available can think.

the prices can't come - But if the demand is not there, then perhaps new strategies can be introduced.

"What you see, maybe, are some creative pricing models, to make it better and react to people, situations. Perhaps there is a temporary action to help people say a lower price, if you can show Mr Gillett an unemployment check, or emergency services ID".

But Apple's biggest fans are likely to remain faithful to.

"I don't think [the pandemic] effects of interest, especially in the case of consumers, because we are always buying new things: now the big thing, the toilet paper, But eventually it'll go back on his iPhone," says Mr Kourouche.

Source of news: bbc.com