Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Apple Stores in China Won't Reopen as Planned on February 10 Due to Coronavirus Concerns

MacRumors

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
66,066
34,919



Apple in early February closed all of its corporate offices, stores, and contact centers in China due to the coronavirus outbreak that originated in Wuhan, and at the time, the closures were expected to last through February 9.

Apple's Head of People, Deirdre O'Brien, this morning sent out an email (via MacGeneration) to Apple employees as some prepare to transition back to work while others wait longer for word on when they can return.

applewqingdao.jpg

According to O'Brien, Apple is working to reopen Apple's corporate offices and contact centers next week, and is "actively working" to reopen retail stores at a date that "will be determined next week." Health protocols, local restrictions around public spaces, and additional cleaning have factored in to Apple's decision to delay store reopening. O'Brien's full letter to employees is below.
Team, I want to thank every one of you for the care, flexibility and spirit you have shown over the past few weeks. Around the world, the entire Apple family stands committed to helping our colleagues, communities, suppliers, partners and customers in China as they care for their health and return to daily life. Apple's support for the global coronavirus response is broad and ongoing, including our donation to the public health effort.

Since my last note, we have been in constant consultation with public health experts, government authorities and our teams and leaders in China. In light of those conversations, I want to share new information about Apple's workplaces.

We are working toward reopening Apple's Corporate Offices and Contact Centers in China next week. We recognize that personal movement and travel restrictions are ongoing and schools are closed in many places, and managers will be working with their teams to offer additional support. You will receive a follow up communication shortly with more information.

Apple's Retail Stores are actively working to reopen at a date that will be determined next week. Additional cleaning, health protocols and local restrictions around public spaces will factor into this decision. Retail teams will receive updates from their managers on the opening date for their store and on other supportive steps we are taking.

Individual business leaders will be reaching out to you soon with more information relevant to your work. In addition to your manager, your People Business Partner and People Support are your resource for any questions you may have. To stay up to date with Apple's efforts, please continue to check the dedicated coronavirus page we've created on the People site.

As we work together to gradually resume work over the next few weeks, your well-being is our first priority. We are deeply grateful to everyone for facing this challenging period with the utmost empathy and understanding.
Click to expand...
Apple plans to provide retail teams with updates on store opening dates as retail locations begin to reopen over the coming weeks, but it continues to be unclear when the first stores will be back in running order.

The coronavirus has been declared a global public health emergency by the World Health Organization. More than 31,000 people have been infected with the virus, primarily in China, and it has caused over 600 deaths.

To prevent further spread of the virus, China has initiated travel bans and many businesses in China are taking precautions. Many of Apple's manufacturing partners are in China and are preparing for employees to return to work after the Chinese New Year holiday, but production on Apple devices and components is expected to be slow due to travel bans and quarantine procedures, which could impact supplies of Apple products.

Article Link: Apple Stores in China Won't Reopen as Planned on February 10 Due to Coronavirus Concerns
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2020/02/07/apple-stores-china-remain-closed-coronavirus/
This is expected but still sad. It's very clear with almost no fatalitys outside of China that a lot of this is just people not getting the help they need in this outbreak.
 
Reopening contact and corporate centers next week seems overly ambitious. I've heard no reports at all yet that the virus has stopped spreading. Only more deaths and more confirmed cases. However, perhaps public data is lagging behind reality and things are actually much better and we don't know it yet.
 
Mdracer said:
This is ultimately really sad for the Chinese citizens to be going through this. There are so many videos online of people getting mistreated and loaded into boxes and locked in their homes by the police.
Click to expand...

Given the current situation in China, anyone there wondering around without reasons ABSOLUTELY DIRECTLY related to staying alive or to public safety, should really condemned by everyone!
 
This is sad. I wonder how hard life has become for these people. While we see more deaths from our own flu season, I have a bad feeling this is far from over there.
 
It’s going to effect the global economy if there is a protracted delay in getting factories back up and running in China. My company relies on a couple of factories there and it’s impossible to plan for how we’re going to get product out of the country, which is not good. And because we supply several mass retailers, we’ve only got a limited time before they and the average consumer are impacted.
 
  • Like
Reactions: matthew12
jmgregory1 said:
It’s going to effect the global economy if there is a protracted delay in getting factories back up and running in China. My company relies on a couple of factories there and it’s impossible to plan for how we’re going to get product out of the country, which is not good. And because we supply several mass retailers, we’ve only got a limited time before they and the average consumer are impacted.
Click to expand...

More pressure to get automated factories up and running in the West. We all know that the human cost is too great (the people here are generally slower, lazier and definitely more expensive compared to their Asian counterparts). Machines don't get tired or need to be paid.

Apple has made great advances on "disassembly robots"... I bet you they are working on the opposite.... "assembly robots". The signs are there, it's just a matter of time and pressure. And this virus outbreak is definitely pressure!
 
If they didn't, we would all be affected. Like in the American flu 1918–20.

Mdracer said:
This is ultimately really sad for the Chinese citizens to be going through this. There are so many videos online of people getting mistreated and loaded into boxes and locked in their homes by the police.
Click to expand...
 
This happened because the Chinese government covered it's eyes and pretended everything was ok when doctors were already reporting the deadly virus. Even arresting said doctors, just for reporting it amongst themselves, in their version of "whatsapp". They ignored it until it was too late... And other countries started to notice so they had to "save face". The government even had a huge banquet a few miles away from where the virus was first reported... 🙄
 
  • Like
Reactions: joelhinch
jmgregory1 said:
It’s going to effect the global economy if there is a protracted delay in getting factories back up and running in China. My company relies on a couple of factories there and it’s impossible to plan for how we’re going to get product out of the country, which is not good. And because we supply several mass retailers, we’ve only got a limited time before they and the average consumer are impacted.
Click to expand...
What does your company get from there?
 
This virus is just starting. We haven't seen anything yet. There are likely 50k+ new infections daily around the world. All cruise ships have Chinese passengers. Many have been out at sea during all the land pandemics. Now many ships are returning only to find themselves full of hundreds if not thousands of infected. Ships make planes look like 5 star hotels. It's picking up momentum all over north America. Infected people were at the Miami superbowl lol. 80k+? lol Nice petri dish. This will turn plague-like once it catches fire in the biggest cities.

Last thing anyone should be concerned with is Apple stores lol Timmy has probably already escaped to some island with Bill Gates.
 
jmgregory1 said:
It’s going to effect the global economy if there is a protracted delay in getting factories back up and running in China. My company relies on a couple of factories there and it’s impossible to plan for how we’re going to get product out of the country, which is not good. And because we supply several mass retailers, we’ve only got a limited time before they and the average consumer are impacted.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I expect that for a lot of Americans, the human cost of a pandemic outbreak isn’t worth a mention, & the real victim to be concerned about in a pandemic outbreak is their access to all the cheap stuff they‘ve been buying, marking up 500% and skimming off the top of. Won’t someone please think of the cheap stuff? My gods what will 2 generations raised on devaluing skilled trades do, have to spend the effort learning how to produce and value quality goods themselves, learn to live with more realistic costs and margins, or actually set sustainable expectations for economic growth? But then who will prop up the runaway cost of living and real estate? The horror... such impact to ”average consumers” could bring... change (shudder) to our perfect and flawless utopian system of exploitation.
 
Regbial said:
This happened because the Chinese government covered it's eyes and pretended everything was ok when doctors were already reporting the deadly virus. Even arresting said doctors, just for reporting it amongst themselves, in their version of "whatsapp". They ignored it until it was too late... And other countries started to notice so they had to "save face". The government even had a huge banquet a few miles away from where the virus was first reported... 🙄
Click to expand...
Is this really so different from the stock markets? The stocks rise to new heights only because everybody thinks that it will be a short term problem only.
 
barkomatic said:
Reopening contact and corporate centers next week seems overly ambitious. I've heard no reports at all yet that the virus has stopped spreading. Only more deaths and more confirmed cases. However, perhaps public data is lagging behind reality and things are actually much better and we don't know it yet.
Click to expand...
Things are much worse than what’s reported.
 
This is why it’s a good idea to diversity your supply chain.

I hope the Chinese people are finally going to wake up and realize their government lies to them on a regular basis, and that they are utterly under equipped to deal with situations like this.
 
Stromos said:
This is expected but still sad. It's very clear with almost no fatalitys outside of China that a lot of this is just people not getting the help they need in this outbreak.
Click to expand...

In China, the death rate is under 2% of infections and falling (falling death rate is typical for any new infection for a number of reasons). Outside China, with 1 death in 290 cases, it's too small a sample size to have any meaning.

There is no way you can say conditions in China are causing a higher death rate, and your post is nothing but disgusting inflamitory racism. I guess you think everywhere but your home is a filthy primitive wasteland, right?
 
chris1958 said:
Is this really so different from the stock markets? The stocks rise to new heights only because everybody thinks that it will be a short term problem only.
Click to expand...
Well... this is a deep betrayal of a government to it's people. (and the rest of the world... but China kind of hates the rest of the world (generally speaking, and especially the government) so... eh..)
 
How is that guy "working towards" reopening? Is he in a lab developing countermeasures? Has Apple diverted all resources to medical research?

Normally, when we say working towards it means taking action but in this case - everyone just has to wait.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back