Coronavirus: iPhone launch likely to be cancelled as Silicon Valley bans large gatherings

Apple events, sporting fixtures and more to be banned

Passengers wear face masks to protect against the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) after arriving at the LAX airport in Los Angeles, California on March 5, 2020 (Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty)

Large gatherings have been banned in the heart of Silicon Valley in an attempt to stop the spread of coronavirus, almost certainly affecting the launch of the next iPhone.

Santa Clara County – which includes San Jose as well as many of the world's biggest tech company's headquarters – has said that gatherings of 1,000 people or more will not be allowed to happen.

The announcement comes as the county announced its first death of a patient who had been diagnosed with COVID-19.

The woman was the third positive case in the area and the first to contract coronavirus without having travelled internationally or who was known to have been in contact with another infected person.

The ban will mean that many of the world's biggest tech companies will be banned from holding large launch events from Wednesday and for the foreseeable future.

That almost certainly means that the launch of the next iPhone – the lower-cost iPhone 9, rumoured to be happening at the end of this month but which Apple is yet to announce – will be unable to go forward. Apple's annual WWDC event, which marks the highlight of its year for new software features and its developers, is also likely to be cancelled under the ban.

Apple holds its new phone launches in its Steve Jobs Theater, which has a capacity of 1,000 and is usually fully packed. It is very possible that Apple could launch the new phone without a large scale event, and it has released products with much smaller events or without a launch event at all in the past.

Its Worldwide Developers Conference brings together more than 5,000 developers and as a consequence is even less likely to go ahead. That event has not yet been announced either but runs on an annual schedule, being held in San Jose every year.

Previous reports have suggested that Apple's product pipeline – including the iPhone 12, which is expected much later in the year – could be affected by coronavirus, which is reducing both demand for new devices as well as the ability to supply enough models in time.

It will also mean other major events such as sporting fixtures will no longer go ahead.

The ban had been brought in "to slow the spread of the disease", said Santa Clara County health officer Sara Cody in a statement.

“Today’s order and new recommendations will reduce the number of people who develop severe illness and will help prevent our healthcare system from becoming overwhelmed.

“This is critically important for anyone with healthcare needs, not just those most vulnerable to serious illness from COVID-19.”