Given that a lot of Apple’s products are manufactured and produced in China, naturally some have been wondering with the new coronavirus making its rounds, could it have an impact on Apple’s future iPhone launches? While one of Apple’s partners, Foxconn, claims that it won’t, some seem to disagree.
According notable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, he claims that with the new virus making its rounds in China and around the world, it could have a negative impact on Apple’s shipping forecasts for the first quarter of the year. Based on this, he has revised his shipping estimates for iPhones in Q1 2020 to 36-40 million units, which is apparently 10% lower than before.
Apple might not be alone in being affected by this because according to Kuo, he says that he has seen smartphone shipments in the Chinese market decline by as much as 50-60% year-over-year, which could either be due to the fact that this is the Chinese New Year and many companies take a break during the period, or it could be due to fear of the virus which has led to some companies closing down temporarily.
Apple themselves have also taken some precautions where all of its corporate offices, stores, and contact centers in Mainland China have been shut down through February 9 due to the virus outbreak.