(An Apple Store in Shanghai. Photo from Apple website.)
Apple retail stores in China will be temporarily closed from now until 24:00 on February 9 based on recent public health and prevention considerations, an announcement on Apple China's official website showed on Saturday morning.
Here is an auto-translated screenshot from Apple China webite:
Apple later added in a statement that it will close all offices, retail stores and call centers in mainland China due to extreme care and based on the latest recommendations of experts. Apple's online store in China is still open.
Here is a translated version of Apple's statement:
We are concerned about those who are most directly affected by the coronavirus and the staff who work day and night to study and control the epidemic.
From now until February 9, we will close all offices, retail stores and call centers in mainland China due to extreme care and based on the latest recommendations of experts.
Apple's online store in China is still open. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and look forward to our retail stores returning to business as soon as possible.
Apple has previously announced the temporary closure of three Apple Stores in Qingdao, Nanjing and Fuzhou, and retail stores in many other provinces have also restricted business hours.
On Monday, Xiaomi announced that the Xiaomi House offline retail stores in China will be closed from January 28 to February 2 and will resume operations on February 3 in order to cooperate with the control of the new coronavirus.
Xiaomi called for a self-protection to reduce unnecessary going out.
