Apple Reopens 42 Stores in China After Coronavirus Shut Downs

According to Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman, Apple is now reopening 42 of its stores in China which were previously closed down due to coronavirus concerns in early January.

The news comes just a little more than a week after CEO Tim Cook announced that the tech giant’s factories in the country will be reopened, saying that China seems to have the virus outbreak “under control.” It comes as no surprise, as Apple had been facing a difficult financial quarter given the global outspread affecting both its product output and sales. Back in February, the company had already made an earnings warning to investors, citing coronavirus concerns for potential losses. The announcement led to a 2.3 percent drop in share price the very next day. At the same time, Apple experienced a 61 percent plummet in its iPhone sales in China, which is no doubt one of its biggest markets. Despite shipping two million of the devices in January, only 494,000 were shipping in February, according to the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology.

In the meantime, while the coronavirus is beginning to spread Stateside, Apple has yet to announce any closures in the country.

Apple confirms all 42 of its stores in mainland China will have re-opened as of Friday local time.

— Mark Gurman (@markgurman) March 12, 2020

Elsewhere in tech, the European Commission hopes to expand its “right to repair” laws to cover smartphones, tablets and laptops.