Apple takes hit from coronavirus
Apple became the biggest company to flag damage to its business from the coronavirus on Monday (February 17).
It warned of an assault on two fronts: Supply is a problem with factories in China still slow to reopen and it sees sales of its devices falling off, too.
Many of its stores in China are still closed or have limited hours.
Now Apple is cutting expectations for sales for this quarter.
A month ago, as the virus began to take hold: Apple thought sales would stay relatively robust - some 63 to 67 billion dollars.
On Monday it didn't offer up a new estimate to account for the virus' impact.
Millions in China are still confined to their homes as the government steps up tighter restrictions on travel to limit the spread of a virus - that officials say has stricken more than 70,000 people.
Although Apple's manufacturing facilities in China have begun to kick back into gear- they are not operating at full capacity.
With lost production and weakening demand in China from the virus outbreak that means it all adds up to fewer iPhones for sale around the world.
Apple's stock is expected to face a knee-jerk reaction on Tuesday (March 18).
Analysts say the virus may slash demand for smartphones by half in the first quarter in China - the world's biggest market for the devices.
Meanwhile rival Samsung stands to reap the rewards of a decade-long bet on making their low-cost smartphones in Vietnam.
Today they're also far less exposed to China as a place to sell their devices to after losing ground to local rivals like Xiaomi.
