Skip to main content

Apple CEO Tim Cook addresses how the company has been affected by coronavirus

In an interview posted on Fox Business, Apple CEO Tim Cook has addressed the outbreak of coronavirus, officially called Covid-19, and how it has affected Apple’s business for the year.

Cook began by addressing the human impact of the outbreak, and the important role health professionals are playing in combating and treating the disease. Then he went on to quell concerns over the issues the outbreak has caused to Apple’s business. Apple previously announced that it is unlikely to meet its second-quarter revenue forecast for this year due to having to stop production in China and having to close its retail stores there.

Last month, Apple also took steps to mitigate the impact of the outbreak on its businesses including sourcing alternate supplies and adjusting to the delayed restart of Chinese businesses after the Lunar New Year.

Cook assured people that the company was getting back on track, however. “In terms of our business, here’s what we’re saying to give you a flavor for what’s happening on the ground  — we had closed stores, all of our stores,” he said. “Now we’ve reopened the vast majority of them. And so we were able to put the necessary conditions in place to reopen the store. We’ve reopened the vast majority of them, over 80%.”

As well as reopening retail stores, the company is beginning to reopen its production factories as well. “When you look at the parts that are done in China, we have reopened factories,” Cook said. “So the factories were able to work through the conditions to reopen. They’re reopening. They’re also en-ramp. And so I think of this as sort of the third phase of getting back to normal.”

He was also confident that the outbreak would not affect Apple in the long term and that the company would be able to recover from these short term issues. “Things are going pretty much like we thought they would go there in terms of bringing things back,” Cook said. “And so it will take some time, but by and large I think this is a temporary condition, not a long term kind of thing. You know, Apple is fundamentally strong, so that’s how I see it.”

Editors' Recommendations

Georgina Torbet
Georgina is the Digital Trends space writer, covering human space exploration, planetary science, and cosmology. She…
How to change your language in Google Chrome on desktop
Chrome OS

Google Chrome supports a wide range of languages. While it'll default to English in most cases, there's nothing stopping you from changing its settings and displaying pages in Spanish, French, or dozens of other languages.

Changing your default language in Chrome takes only a few seconds, and the technique used is the same across Windows and Mac. Aside from changing your language, note that Chrome now gives you the option to automatically translate pages written in another language – making it easy to read content from around the globe.

Read more
23 of the best Netflix hacks, tips, and tricks
The Netflix home screen.

Netflix is one of the most popular streaming platforms for all things movies and TV shows. Home to an immense library of titles, the Netflix archive is constantly changing and evolving, and so are the many ways you can use your Netflix account. 

For instance, did you know you can access region-locked Netflix shows and flicks by using a VPN? Or that you can disable that pesky Autoplay feature? There are tons of Netflix hacks, tips, and tricks out there, so we’ve gone ahead and rounded up all of our favorites! 
Expand your streaming with a VPN

Read more
How to make a GIF from a YouTube video
woman sitting and using laptop

Sometimes, whether you're chatting with friends or posting on social media, words just aren't enough -- you need a GIF to fully convey your feelings. If there's a moment from a YouTube video that you want to snip into a GIF, the good news is that you don't need complex software to so it. There are now a bunch of ways to make a GIF from a YouTube video right in your browser.

If you want to use desktop software like Photoshop to make a GIF, then you'll need to download the YouTube video first before you can start making a GIF. However, if you don't want to go through that bother then there are several ways you can make a GIF right in your browser, without the need to download anything. That's ideal if you're working with a low-specced laptop or on a phone, as all the processing to make the GIF is done in the cloud rather than on your machine. With these options you can make quick and fun GIFs from YouTube videos in just a few minutes.
Use GIFs.com for great customization
Step 1: Find the YouTube video that you want to turn into a GIF (perhaps a NASA archive?) and copy its URL.

Read more