Apple Afraid Coronavirus Outbreak Will Negatively Affect Upcoming Quarterly results

IPhone maker Apple Inc. (AAPL) has expressed its fears that outbreak of deadly coronavirus in world’s second largest economy China will negatively affect its upcoming quarterly reports due to be announced in March.

In a Monday statement Apple said it’s highly likely that it will fall short of its upcoming March quarterly sales guidance. The company has 42 stores in China, however it has been forced to close or operate on reduced hours following the virus outbreak, a scenario which without a doubt will affect will affect this quarterly sales for the tech giant.

“Stores that are open have been operating at reduced hours and with very low customer traffic. We are gradually reopening our retail stores and will continue to do so as steadily and safely as we can,” said Apple.

Apple also said some of its manufacturing plants across China had begun resuming productions partly and slower than expected. This means there will be less than expected IPhones for sale around the world.

Three weeks ago Apple considered itself as the largest multinational victim of the coronavirus outbreak considering that China is its third largest market after America and Europe.

Apple’s analyst Gene Munster says coronavirus outbreak will affect Apple since it’s among biggest multinationals with significant exposure to China.

“This is the double-edged sword of being in China. They’re the only big company with China exposure, so they are working through the pain of what has largely been a success for the company over the past decade,” said Munster.

So far, nearly 2000 people have succumbed to the deadly coronavirus in China, however good news is that the country in now recording less new infections.