Where is iPhone 12? Social media abuzz with questions

Social media users were more interested in an iPhone 12 than anything else from the company in the run up to the September 15 event that saw the launch of a new Apple Watch and two new iPad product models, a new analysis of social media mentions around the event has found.

This year's "#AppleEvent" received a total global media exposure of 151,000 mentions - 76 per cent less than what the hashtag received for 2019's "#AppleEvent", according to the analysis by media intelligence company Meltwater.

However, "iPhone 12" received 172,000 global social media mentions this month, it added.

Interest from India and Japan for the "#AppleEvent" was centred around the blue colour used to market the event, with social media users suggesting that the blue represented the new colour for the iPhone 12.

On September 15, the actual day of the ‘#AppleEvent', the hashtag received over 74,000 social media mentions and had a social media reach of just over one billion people worldwide, indicating the global high interest in what Apple was launching.

With the event being live streamed, the Top 5 countries with social media users engaging the most on the hashtag were the US, India, Japan, Thailand and the UK, respectively.

However, the data indicates the number of social media users interested in the news of an "iPhone 12" were slightly more than the actual "#AppleEvent".

The lack of an announcement on the "iPhone 12", however, is what contributed to the global negative sentiment that the ‘#AppleEvent' hashtag received on September 15, Meltwater said in the analysis.

It showed that on day one of the "#AppleEvent", iPhone 12 only received a 49 per cent positive response, with the 51 per cent negative response being attributed to the disappointment many social media users expressed about Apple not actually releasing a new iPhone, and has subsequently prompted the question "Where is the iPhone 12?".

While many users never received the much anticipated news on an iPhone 12, the "#AppleEvent" certainly got social media talking about its new hardware and software announcements and updates.