Broadcom CEO Warns of Possible iPhone Launch Delay

Hock Tan, CEO of Broadcom, warned that the company’s fiscal 2020 revenue would be impacted by a major product cycle delay at a large North American mobile phone customer. His words fueled speculation of possible delays to Apple’s next iPhone launch.

Tan said in an earnings call that he expected Broadcom’s annual bump in revenue to come one quarter later than usual in 2020. “In our Q3, we will normally expect to see a double-digit sequential uplift in revenue from the ramp of next-generation phone at our large North American mobile phone customer,“ he explained. “However, this year, we do not expect to see to see this uptick in revenue until our fourth fiscal quarter.“

His comments are aligned with a report by The Wall Street Journal in April predicting Apple would delay mass production of new iPhone models due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, in-turn pushing back its traditional September launch. Tan noted while a delay in revenue growth was expected, nothing had changed in terms of what it was planning to supply to its mobile phone customers, including an increase in 5G components.