Apple will likely miss its schedule for mass producing a more affordable iPhone, while inventories of existing models could remain low until April or longer, despite suppliers in China gradually resuming production amid the coronavirus outbreak, sources familiar with the matter told the Nikkei Asian Review.

Apple had previously planned to release a more affordable iPhone this spring to maintain sales momentum into the first half of the year. Mass production was supposed to start by the end of February, but multiple sources say meeting that target is now very challenging and production could be delayed until sometime in March.

The U.S. tech giant had previously asked suppliers to ready up to 80 million units of iPhones, including up to 15 million units of the cheaper model, for the first half of 2020, the Nikkei Asian Review reported. With that aggressive production plan now uncertain, Apple became the latest major tech company to lower its revenue forecast on Monday.

“The suppliers are doing their best to produce and ship the [cheaper] iPhone within four weeks. …The delay can’t be too long, otherwise it will affect the sales strategy of Apple’s new products in the second half of this year,” one of the people, who has direct knowledge of the matter, told Nikkei.

“On average, suppliers in the iPhone supply chain are currently operating at around 30% to 50% of capacity,” another source told Nikkei. “The constrained supply of iPhones will likely extend to April. There are still a lot of hurdles, from labor shortages to logistics transportation.”

“The biggest uncertainty is still lingering as no one can be sure whether the coronavirus is under control,” the person said. The source added, however, that most suppliers expect to have more employees back at work as soon as next Monday, after the 14-day quarantine period expires for those who returned from other provinces by Feb. 10. (more…)