The Nikkei Hypes Up a story about Apple having AirPods production issues during the Chaos of the Coronavirus
Most Tech Companies are likely to Experience some Drawbacks in Q1 due to the Coronavirus. It was reported on Monday that "China Smartphone Shipments Could Plummet in the First Quarter on Coronavirus," down 30% or more according to Chinese based Caixin Global.
Just yesterday Caixin Global reported that smartphone display panel makers like BOE will be disrupted due to the Coronavirus and that will affect Huawei the hardest followed by Xiaomi, Vivo and other Chinese smartphone vendors.
This is likely to be the story in Q1 2020, China being hit by the coronavirus followed by all tech companies, including Apple, having their Quarter dinged. This is what happens in a crisis of this nature.
Yet some media companies want to cash in with "Exclusives" and disaster stories to crank up the hit-count for their stories. Some are irresponsible. One such company, in my view, is the The Nikkei Asian Review. With the entire smartphone industry under pressure, why is Apple being singled out?
Knowing that all tech companies with supply chains in China are in the same boat, hyping up Apple's AirPods production being hit as if it's an Apple problem is foolish.
The hyped up Nikkei report states: "Apple's plan to drastically ramp up AirPods production is under threat from the coronavirus outbreak, which has forced suppliers in China to halt operations for two weeks and could leave them short of components even after work resumes on Monday.
Yet Apple's CEO has made it clear that production would likely get back to normal on or around February 10th and that there would likely be some supply constraints. Apple, like most big tech companies, are taking the matter in stride.
If you're still interested or curious to read the full Nikkei story based on a series of rumors, you could do so here.
At the end of the day, the Coronavirus, if anything, is spreading quicker than ever thought and so it's not the time to worry about stocks and individual companies dealing with it while the situation is still so fluid.
Yes, more than likely your big tech stock might get dinged in their next reporting period and it may take two more months before you could get your hands on Apple's popular new AirPods Pro. So what.
Take it in stride as every large company and government are trying their best to get this coronavirus beast under control so that all could get back to normal. Now is not the time to hype up stories about production delays while people are still dying in China and mayhem is leading to cities being closed to the outside world like our cover graphic illustrates.
Until the coronavirus is under control in China and / or Apple's CEO makes further comments on the situation in China, Patently Apple will cease reporting on the issue going forward.
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