iPhone 12 Launch Delay Hinted By Broadcom

The show must go on, as they say, and that definitely seems to be Apple's philosophy when it comes to announcing new products. Whether those products become available in the market on time, however, is a completely different matter. Under normal circumstances, Apple usually makes new iPhones, iPads, and Macs available close to when they were announced. These aren't normal circumstances, however, and this year's new iPhones could be delayed considerably according to a major supplier of iPhone parts.

When a company delays a product, it isn't just one company that's adversely affected. It also affects related that companies that provide either parts or services for those products, often translating as lower revenues for those companies. That's the situation that Broadcom has found itself in, pointing to a major product cycle delay at a large North American mobile phone customer as the cause.

Analysts already know that this is how Broadcom often describes Apple and its iPhones and the statement given at an earnings call confirms Bloomberg's previous report of possible delays. Apple's usual schedule involves announcing the new iPhone in mid-September with product availability not far behind. To meet those deadlines, it usually starts ordering components by July.

That hasn't happened as implied by Broadcom since its expected revenue in the third fiscal quarter will be delayed. If so, we might be looking at a longer than usual waiting time for the 2020 iPhones to actually ship after they get announced. Whether that announcement will still happen on schedule, however, is still unknown.

This wouldn't be the first time that an iPhone has been delayed but it's still a rarity in Apple's recent history. Of course, it's also not surprising given the COVID-19 pandemic and how the company has had to work around delays and obstacles that have been caused by it.