What you need to know
- The unveiling and launch dates of the iPhone 12 remain a mystery.
- A new DigiTimes report says it is to be unveiled as scheduled in September.
- DigiTimes also says the pricing of the iPhone 12 will be crucial to help it gain momentum in the market.
A new report from DigiTimes says Apple's iPhone 12 is to be unveiled "as scheduled" in September of this year.
According to the report:
Facing strong competition from Android phone makers, pricing for Apple's iPhone 5G phones, reportedly to be unveiled as scheduled in September 2020, will play a key role for ramping up buying momentum for iPhones and non-iPhone models in the end market in second-half 2020, said the observers.
The report is a part of a wider comment on how the pricing of the iPhone 12 is "crucial to igniting buying momentum in 2H20." From the report:
With the 5G phone segment likely to become a main battlefield of the global handset market in the second half of 2020, pricing strategies adopted by different vendors, Apple in particular, will be crucial to see whether their efforts could stimulate smartphone sales in the latter half of the year, according to industry observers.
The report is more interesting, however, in noting that the iPhone 12 appears to be on track, at least according to DigiTimes, for a September unveiling. This would not preclude a release date later in the year. The most recent report suggested that Apple will announce the new iPhone in October, due to COVID-19. Obviously, these two reports directly contradict each other regarding an iPhone 12 announcement. It is certainly possible that Apple might announce the phone on time in September, but delay the actual launch of the phone until later in the year. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, everything seems pretty uncertain at the moment, however, a running theme consistent throughout the year has been that the iPhone 12's development, prototyping, and more have all been delayed because of travel restrictions and supply chain disruption.
A report at the beginning of July notes that the iPhone 12 was at one time delayed until 2021 following disruption earlier this year, but that Apple has aggressively battled to get the release back on track.
