Apple's decision to temporarily close its retail stores in China due to the new coronavirus outbreak could delay up to 1 million iPhone sales, analysts at Wedbush Securities said Saturday.
Analysts Daniel Ives and Strecker Backe wrote:
We believe with the limited transportation in major cities throughout China and limited foot traffic in Shanghai, Beijing, and other cities that at most ~1 mm iPhones in the region could be at risk of shifting out of the March quarter into the June quarter if this continues into late February.
However, they noted this is unlikely to have a substantial impact on the company's revenue as the sum represented less than 3% of annual Chinese iPhone sales.
Ives and Backe wrote that the effect of the outbreak on the company's shares was mitigated because Apple did not roll out major sales around the Chinese New Year, which took place January 25.
They wrote:
While the coronavirus outbreak is a sad situation and concerning headline for investors, for the stock we believe the fundamental impact from this issue to Apple's top-line is negligible especially as this year there were no major price cuts or last minute sales around the Chinese New Year, which we have seen in prior years to spur sales in the key region.
cnTechPost mentioned on February 1 that 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.
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.
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.
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