Yahoo Finance’s Alexis Christoforous, Brian Sozzi, Dan Roberts and Dan Howley discuss why the Apple iPhone 12 might be delayed and what impact the coronavirus has had on the tech giant.

Video Transcript

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: We want to check in with Dan Howley now, on some news from Apple. You know, up until now Dan, we thought that that 5G iPhone was going to not be really impacted in terms of its timeline, when it was supposed to roll out. Is that changing now?

DAN HOWLEY: Yeah, there are reports from the Nikkei Asia Review, saying that the new iPhone will be delayed by months, or could be delayed by months. And that was based on what Apple was talking about internally. And this comes after analysts had said at JP Morgan, that there could be a delay in that iPhone. Usually the iPhone launches around the September-October timeframe. We usually have an event around September 12, around there, and then it launches about two weeks later to the general public.

But with the factory shutdowns that have gone on in China with employees at Apple in shelter in place in California, it looks like that may end up slipping a bit. They could still have an event in September if we have all these lockdowns lifted, and give us a preview of what the phone is, and then release it at a much later date. That's something they've done previously with the iPhone, I believe it was the 10 and the iPhone 11. Certain versions of them would come out later than the original versions.

But it would be a big deal if Apple didn't announce it in September and said that maybe the phone would slip several months into the December timeframe. And you got to remember, the phone comes out around the very end of Q3 for them. And then it really is Q4 where you get the hit. So you get an initial boost in Q3 from those phone sales, and then it leads into Q4, and then Q1 of the following year. If they end up missing that boost at the end of Q3, that could send investors into kind of a tizzy if they don't realize that that's how it usually plays out.

BRIAN SOZZI: Yeah, Dan, good point here. Do you think this cause a shock to the tech industry? You have chip suppliers. But look, you also have the wireless carriers, like an AT&T, waiting and really need these Apple 5G phones.

DAN HOWLEY: Yeah, I think this would potentially have ripple effects. Obviously, we have the different chip makers, like you said. Their chips go into the devices. The screen makers, I mean, everybody up and down the product supply chain. And then yes, you have the carriers that want these phones, so that people will start using 5G and get on those networks and really have the fruits of the labor that these carriers have been putting into building out their networks. But I think the issue is basically a delay, not necessarily a complete collapse of what people, of people wanting to buy this phone.

It will simply be that any kind of earnings that they see would just slow down over time or pick up over time, rather than getting them at the jump from Q3 forward. So if it is delayed a little bit, it could just launch in Q4. It would go into Q1. And then we could see maybe that timeline extended. But there's always the issue that when people purchase iPhones, they say OK, going to buy it right away or they wait a few months then buy it. And then once we get to Q2, end of Q2, Q3, those iPhone sales start to peter out, because they know that a new one is coming in September. So it may be a crunch of the timeline for the availability of this next iPhone.

DAN ROBERTS: Howley, Dan Roberts here. I'm glad you mentioned the kind of buying mentality, because I think that even if the phones are delayed a little and then do come out, the 5G apple iPhones, which had been so anticipated and which, by the way, [INAUDIBLE] stock surge in the last kind of eight months until quite recently, was on anticipation of the 5G iPhones.

Whenever those do come out, even if it's a few months after kind of the coast is clear, so to speak, and we're all back to work, you worry, though, that if there are so many people, and look at the jobless claims numbers today, who have seen a hit to their bank accounts and wallets and maybe are out of work, that that might really affect how many people are going to upgrade to the new one.

And we were already talking a year ago about how the upgrade cycle has slowed a little bit. That is, there's sort of less motivation in recent years to urgently buy the newest iPhone every single time. And so that might be a concern for Apple. That even if and when the 5G iPhones get released, maybe people will have been so hit financially by the Coronavirus, that they're not willing to buy the new one.

DAN HOWLEY: Yeah, I mean, you take you know more than three million people out of the workforce, their inability to get a paycheck, obviously, that means that there's going to be an impact on whether or not they're able to purchase something as expensive as $1,000 iPhone. So I think you're totally right. This could be kind of a crunch time for Apple. But along the lines of people wanting to purchase their devices, people wanting to sign up for their services, I think that's going to maintain steady as people start getting back into the workforce after this huge shock with virus.

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: All right, Dan Howley, thanks for the wrap on Apple and the 5G iPhone.