With the coronavirus spreading as Mydoom did in 2004, Apple decided to close down their offices and stores until the 9th of February.
Closures
Apple originally decreased working hours for certain stores and closed just one store in mainland China in the city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus. They also started to minimize Apple employees travelling to China.
With the coronavirus now declared a public health emergency, Apple decided to close all their stores, contact centres and corporate offices based in China’s mainland until the 9th of February.
Repercussions
The impact of this decision can lead to roughly 1 million iPhone sales being at risk. It is believed that these 1 million sales could move form the March quarter over to the June quarter, should the closures continue through to late February.
The following message appeared in Chinese on Apple’s Chinese website when searching for retail stores in China:
Based on recent public health and prevention considerations, from now until 24:00 on February 9, we will temporarily close
Apple
Though the first store closure of Apple’s Wuhan store will have a small impact on sales, closing all stores will ramp up that impact. China’s sales account for approximately 15% of Apple’s total income.
Apple will keep their online stores open during this time.
Affiliate Closures
Foxconn, one of Apple biggest suppliers, will at this stage not be closed for business. They amended their schedule to holiday hours and said they don’t foresee a reduction in production.
Closing
While this virus is causing financial loss for Apple in China, they are putting their employees first by temporarily shutting down their stores and contact centres and corporate offices temporarily to minimize exposure to and spread of the virus.
