Apple acknowledged a temporary shortage of the company’s iPhones after many of its manufacturing facilities closed amid the coronavirus outbreak in China.
The tech company said in a Monday statement that the “worldwide” supply of iPhones “will be temporarily constrained” despite Apple’s manufacturing plants not being located in Hubei province, which is where the outbreak originated.
Apple also said that the “supply shortages will temporarily affect revenues worldwide” but added that “customer demand across our product and service has been strong” outside of China.
The demand for Apple products has been reduced since the outbreak began, with every Apple store and those in partnership with the company closing throughout China. Some locations have since opened but are operating with reduced hours and at a slower pace than anticipated, with “very low customer traffic.”
The deadly virus has claimed the lives of more than 1,800 people in China and infected over 72,000 others, according to the data released by the Chinese Communist Party. However, the legitimacy of the data has been called into question as no outside officials have been able to verify the numbers.
Medical professionals have been flocking to Wuhan, a city of more than 11 million residents, in attempts to treat and stop the spread of the illness. The city constructed two hospitals in just weeks to house those who have been infected, and most of Wuhan is under quarantine.
