Apple has reportedly decided to cancel its planned press conference this month where the company was expected to unveil the next-gen iPad Pro alongside the successor to the iPhone SE. According to a source quoted by Cult Of Mac, the decision follows continuing delays in the production of the so-called iPhone 9 (or iPhone SE2) because of severe coronavirus-related restrictions in China.
The source further claimed that the growing number of coronavirus cases in the US also played a major part in the decision, with the company getting ‘concerned’ about bringing together some 1,000 delegates for the event that was originally scheduled to be held later this month at the company’s headquarters in Cupertino, California.
According to IANS, iPhone production in the Zhengzhou Airport Economy Zone in China had slowed due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in January, affecting the international supply chain. A recent report from Taiwanese publication, DigiTimes, also suggested that Apple’s restrictions on its engineers from traveling to Asia has further affected the development of its other upcoming devices, like the iPhone 12 lineup, by delaying their engineering verification tests (EVTs).
It’s worth noting here that that the iPhone 9 launch may not be the only major Apple event to be cancelled because of the COVID-19 outbreak. The company’s annual developer conference, WWDC, may also be cancelled because of the spiraling coronavirus crisis that some health professionals believe is fast approaching pandemic proportions. The WWDC is scheduled to be held in June, but the latest development now puts a serious question mark on the event this year.
