Apple Says March Quarter Revenue Will Fall Short Due to Coronavirus Impact

Apple today issued an update on its financial guidance for the March quarter, announcing that the company will not meet its revenue goals due to the impact of the COVID-19 coronavirus epidemic in China.

Our quarterly guidance issued on January 28, 2020 reflected the best information available at the time as well as our best estimates about the pace of return to work following the end of the extended Chinese New Year holiday on February 10. Work is starting to resume around the country, but we are experiencing a slower return to normal conditions than we had anticipated. As a result, we do not expect to meet the revenue guidance we provided for the March quarter due to two main factors.

Apple cites both constrained iPhone supplies worldwide and lower customer demand for Apple products in China as the main impacts on performance for the quarter.On the ‌iPhone‌ supply side, Apple says all of its manufacturing partner facilities are located outside of the Hubei province epicenter for the epidemic and have reopened, the ramp-up to full production has been slower than expected.

As for customer demand in China, Apple says store closings and limited hours have significantly reduced customer traffic, although corporate offices and contact centers have reopened and online stores have remained open.

Apple says it is continuing to monitor the situation and will provide additional information on its quarterly earnings call in April. Apple also says it is more than doubling its previously announced donation to help in the public health fight against the Wuhan coronavirus.

Apple had predicted in its earnings release at the end of January that it would see revenue of $63–$67 billion for the March quarter, a somewhat wider guidance range than usual as Apple acknowledged the coronavirus situation was leading to some uncertainty, but it appears the impact will be even larger than Apple had accounted for.