Apple takes double hit in China due to coronavirus

Gadget giant Apple has downgraded its quarterly forecast due to greater than expected supply and demand constraints caused by the coronavirus outbreak in China.

Referring to it by its official new name – COVID-19 – Apple said the outbreak has had a double negative effect on its business in China. On the supply side most (if not all) of Apple manufacturing is done in China. Massive manufacturers, such as Foxconn, have had their operations severely limited by the Chinese government as it tries to limit the spread of the disease, which means they haven’t been making stuff. These restrictions have been greater than Apple previously reckoned.

On the demand side, loads of shops have also been closed, meaning sales of iPhones, etc have apparently dropped off a cliff in China. Once more the restrictions to the retail sector seem to have been greater and more prolonged than Apple had anticipated. There were no specific numbers offered in the investor update, but Apple shares fell by 3% on the news.

“Outside of China, customer demand across our product and service categories has been strong to date and in line with our expectations,” said the update. Note there was no comment about Apple’s ability to fulfil that demand, what with Foxconn on a go-slow and all that. Apple famously likes to keep a very lean supply chain so it seems unlikely there’s much redundancy built into it.

Having said that, Apple customers are very loyal and if they have to wait a few weeks for their next fix of silicon loveliness then they probably will. So while Apple’s (and presumably their competitors’) Q1 2020 numbers may take a hit on the coronavirus disruption, they’ll probably compensate the following quarter and we’ll be back to business as usual. Which in Apple’s case means accumulating more money than it knows what to do with.