By William Gallagher
Monday March 09, 2020, 4:16 am PT (07:16 am ET)
The impact of the coronavirus epidemic led Apple to sell 494,000 iPhones in China in February, about 60% less than in the same month in 2019.
Apple iPhone sales down nearly 60% in China due to coronavirus
The effects of the coronavirus with the closure of Apple in China and the government limiting travel, severely affected the company’s iPhone sales for February 2020. While January had seen Apple claim double-digit growth, new figures for February indicate that iPhone sales have dropped nearly 60%.
According to Reuters, Apple sold around 494,000 iPhones in China in February 2020, up from around 1.27 million the same month last year.
The figures come from the Chinese Academy of Information and Communication Technologies (CAICT), which indicates that all cell phone sales are down sharply.
While Apple’s iPhone sales are down about 60% year-on-year, Android phones are down 45%. Collectively, AITIC reports that 12.72 million Android phones were sold in February 2019, up from just 5.85 million in February 2020.
These figures are roughly in line with recent forecasts by analysts, including Canalys.
Apple previously warned that its current quarter results would be down due to the coronavirus, although Tim Cook says he expects the situation to be a short-term problem.