Earlier today, Apple reported an all-time record revenue of $91.8 billion dollars in Q1 of 2020. The figures indicate that Apple"s iPhone, wearables, and services, all grew the California giant compared to the previous years.
However, while announcing the results, the CEO of Apple, Tim Cook, hinted at the potential corollaries of the recent novel coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, China. And given the uncertainty and unpredictability of the situation, Apple has made a wider prediction for its Q2 results. Mr. Cook corroborated with the loose prediction:
"We have limited travel to business-critical situations as of last week. The situation is emerging, and we"re still gathering lots of data points and monitoring it very closely."
While Apple does have alternatives suppliers, the company closed down one store in the Wuhan region and reduced working hours in another. Third-party retailers buying and selling Apple products are also facing similar issues. Cook noted that:
"While our sales within the Wuhan area itself are small, retail traffic has also been impacted outside of this area across the country in the last few days."
Courtesy of an extension, factories outside the region will not re-open until the culmination of the Lunar New Year holiday on February 10. For now, Cook detailed that his company is cleaning its stores frequently and is carrying out routine checks of retail works on-site.
Source: CNet