• Home
  • News
  • Fortune 500
  • Tech
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
TechApple

Coronavirus will take a bite out of Apple’s iPhone business. The question facing analysts: ‘How big?’

By
Don Reisinger
Don Reisinger
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Don Reisinger
Don Reisinger
Down Arrow Button Icon
February 3, 2020, 7:00 PM ET

In a note to investors on Monday, TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reduced his first-quarter iPhone shipment prediction by 10% to a range of 36 million to 40 million devices, due to the coronavirus outbreak. Kuo says his firm’s checks reveal a disruption in Apple’s supply chain that could extend into the second quarter, if coronavirus mitigation efforts don’t take hold.

Coronavirus, a highly contagious respiratory illness that was first discovered in Wuhan, China, has taken the lives of more than 360 people in China, as the number of confirmed cases has grown to more than 17,000 worldwide. To stop coronavirus, China has all but shut down areas most heavily affected by the outbreak. In response, companies have also closed, stopping production of their goods.

Over the weekend, Apple, which operates several stores across China, said it would close the retail stores and offices it operates in China until February 10.

But as Kuo’s note suggests, Apple’s exposure to coronavirus goes beyond retail. The company is heavily reliant upon China to manufacture iPhones, and workers not producing devices and shipping them worldwide will have a direct impact on Apple’s business.

What’s harder to quantify, however, is whether Kuo’s prediction on iPhone shipments is realistic or overblown. Fortune talked to several analysts on Monday to get their takes on what might happen if the coronavirus outbreak continues unabated.

Loup Ventures analyst Gene Munster is taking a very different position than Kuo. “I don’t think coronavirus will impact Apple shipments, given the company has a 3-5 weeks of iPhone inventory,” Munster says. But, the longtime Apple watcher cautions, each week of production shutdown beyond week four will reduce iPhone shipments by 8% on the quarter.

Meanwhile, 556 Ventures analyst William Ho is taking a wait-and-see approach to the impact of coronavirus on the iPhone. In terms of production, things appear to be going fine for Apple, he says, but unit sales may be a different story.

“All the consumer psychology of staying indoors in affected areas can contribute to a slowdown in sales,” Ho says. Whether that will play out, however, is unclear.

On the other hand, Forrester analyst Frank Gillett says it will take just seven days of “lost production” at Apple’s manufacturing facilities to cause a 10% reduction in iPhone shipments. While he couldn’t say whether Apple’s supply chain is getting hit that hard, he does believe coronavirus is a problem for the iPhone maker.

“Because the supply chain is so tightly coordinated and does air shipments, any closures will impact production pretty quickly,” Gillett says. “Unless they can work lots of overtime, it will be difficult to make up for the closures and any lost production.”

Timing is everything

IHS Markit analyst Wayne Lam agrees with Gillet’s perspective, saying “The situation in China is basically the worst possible from a manufacturing labor perspective.”

But the coronavirus outbreak’s timing might play to Apple’s benefit, Lam argues. Because it started around the Chinese New Year, Apple and its manufacturing partners were already planning a slowdown in production due to holiday gatherings.

There’s another timing issue might helpful Apple’s stem potential losses due to the coronavirus.

“Apple’s exposure may be mitigated thanks to seasonality,” Futuresource market analyst James Manning Smith says. And because Apple generates a much larger share of its annual sales in the fourth quarter compared to the first, the long-term impact on iPhone shipments could be less than they would be otherwise.

“Should the coronavirus outbreak be controlled in the coming months,” Manning Smith says, “Apple may be able to shift demand to another quarter and mediate any supply issues encounter in the first half.”

More must-read stories from Fortune:

—The long ocean voyage that helped find the flaws in GPS
—Global companies enter lockdown mode as coronavirus rocks China
—3 key takeaways from Tesla’s blockbuster fourth-quarter earnings
—Facebook says its ad machine is being weakened by privacy changes
—Predicting the biggest tech headlines of 2020

Catch up with Data Sheet, Fortune’s daily digest on the business of tech.

About the Author
By Don Reisinger
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Tech

personalized
AIGoogle
Google VP says the AI revolution is just a matter of time: ‘The younger generation is really feeling like it’s a native part of how they work’
By Nick LichtenbergDecember 4, 2025
49 minutes ago
ServiceNow president Amit Zavery
AIServiceNow
ServiceNow’s president says acquiring identity and access management platform Veza will help customers track the whereabouts of AI agents
By Jeremy KahnDecember 4, 2025
1 hour ago
NewslettersTerm Sheet
How Anthropic grew—and what the $183 billion giant faces next
By Allie GarfinkleDecember 4, 2025
2 hours ago
Andrew Ross Sorkin and Alex Karp speak onstage during The New York Times DealBook Summit 2025 at Jazz at Lincoln Center on December 03, 2025 in New York City.
C-Suitepalantir
Palantir CEO Alex Karp defends being an ‘arrogant prick’—and says more CEOs should be, too
By Eva RoytburgDecember 4, 2025
3 hours ago
Apple head of user interface design Alan Dye speaking in a video for the company's 2025 WWDC event. (Courtesy Apple)
NewslettersFortune Tech
Meta poaches Apple interface design chief Alan Dye
By Andrew NuscaDecember 4, 2025
3 hours ago
InnovationBrainstorm Design
Should form always follow function? Architect Ole Scheeren isn’t sure: ‘We think of buildings as living organisms’
By Christina PantinDecember 4, 2025
7 hours ago

Most Popular

placeholder alt text
North America
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos commit $102.5 million to organizations combating homelessness across the U.S.: ‘This is just the beginning’
By Sydney LakeDecember 2, 2025
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Economy
Ford workers told their CEO 'none of the young people want to work here.' So Jim Farley took a page out of the founder's playbook
By Sasha RogelbergNovember 28, 2025
6 days ago
placeholder alt text
North America
Anonymous $50 million donation helps cover the next 50 years of tuition for medical lab science students at University of Washington
By The Associated PressDecember 2, 2025
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
C-Suite
MacKenzie Scott's $19 billion donations have turned philanthropy on its head—why her style of giving actually works
By Sydney LakeDecember 2, 2025
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Innovation
Google CEO Sundar Pichai says we’re just a decade away from a new normal of extraterrestrial data centers
By Sasha RogelbergDecember 1, 2025
3 days ago
placeholder alt text
Economy
Scott Bessent calls the Giving Pledge well-intentioned but ‘very amorphous,’ growing from ‘a panic among the billionaire class’
By Nick LichtenbergDecember 3, 2025
20 hours ago
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • Success
  • Tech
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Environment
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Health
  • Retail
  • Lifestyle
  • Politics
  • Newsletters
  • Magazine
  • Features
  • Commentary
  • Mpw
  • CEO Initiative
  • Conferences
  • Personal Finance
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map

© 2025 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.