International Circuit

Apple Sells Fewer Than 500,000 iPhones In China In February Amid Coronavirus

March 10, 2020

Apple sold fewer than half a million iPhones in China in February, government data showed on Monday, as the coronavirus outbreak crippled demand in the world’s largest smartphone market.

China placed curbs on travel and asked residents to avoid public places in late January, just ahead of the Lunar New Year festival, a major gift-giving holiday. Those restrictions stayed largely in place through most of February.

Smartphone brands shipped a total of 6.34 million devices that month, down 54.7 percent from 14 million in February last year, according to data from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology.

Android smartphone brands, which include major players Huawei Technologies and Xiaomi Corp, accounted for most of that drop, as they collectively saw shipments decline from 12.72 million units in February 2019 to 5.85 million, the data showed.

Shipments of Apple’s flagship smartphone slumped to 494,000 units in February, from 1.27 million a year ago. In January, iPhone shipments had held steady at just over 2 million.

Research firms IDC and Canalys have previously projected that overall smartphone shipments would drop roughly 40 percent in the first quarter, as the coronavirus outbreak hurt demand and sparked supply chain issues.

Apple’s branded stores in China were shut for at least two weeks in February, as fears over the coronavirus crisis mounted.

Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive, wrote to investors that month, warning that the company would not meet its initial revenue guidance for the current quarter owing to demand issues.

―SCMP