Vivo was scheduled to launch a new mid-range smartphone, the Vivo V19 with a dual-camera punch-hole and quad-camera system, in India on 26th March. Recent rumors, however, suggested that the launch will be pushed back to 3rd April in wake of COVID-19 outbreak. Now, Vivo has taken to social media to shed light on the matter and has confirmed that it’s canceling all of its upcoming product launches indefinitely.
Nipun Marya, Director, Brand Strategy at Vivo India in an official tweet said, “During these tough times, the well being of our customers, partners, employees, and fellow citizens is our number one priority. Hence, we have decided to suspend all our new product launches starting from V19, while we fight this crisis and focus our time and resources towards COVID-19 relief efforts.”
The cancellation of new phone launches follows the shut down of Vivo’s manufacturing facility in Greater Noida. This move is in line with the local government’s directive and helps curb the spread of Coronavirus.
In the letter above, Marya further reaffirms the company’s commitment to relief efforts during this pandemic. Vivo is working closely with the government to provide a few essentials to health and community workers. Currently, the company is in the process of “procuring and donating surgical and N95 masks” (you can read about the different face masks right here) for healthcare workers.
So yeah, don’t expect any new phones from Vivo to land in India for the next few weeks. Realme and Redmi will, however, fill the void with the launch of their new budget-centric Narzo series and flagship Mi 10 series respectively. Which phone are you more excited to check out? Let us know in the comments below.