Apple to Close All Retail Stores Outside of China Until March 27th

[Act3]

It seems to run its course in 2 weeks so they think they can slow the rate of infection. Since we’re severely overreacting anyway, lets close EVERYTHING and EVERYONE stays locked in their homes for 2 weeks. And the government sends out 2 weeks pay to everyone.

China has just started to overcome the issue with its strict rules. However, Europe, especially lazy Italy just started to suffer from it severely.. Closing all the store, wow!, it will be a though week.

Yes alot longer than 2 weeks it seems for China even with their strict rules.

 

[newyorksole]

That would just create frustration though, especially with most likely limited supplies as production in China is still low.
Releasing a product that you can't actually buy at Retail nor try out beforehand seems pretty counter productive.

People do this literally all the time Lol. I didn’t try out my TV, portable steamer, UE MegaBoom and many other products in store before buying. I just bought, used and if I didn’t likeThat’s normal.

And if people are already familiar with Apple’s products then they don’t have to go into a store to try/buy.

Obviously there’s a large chunk of people that would prefer to try in-store first, but not all.

 

[atomic.flip]

Lung cancer didn't stop people from smoking cigarettes.
The regular flu and pneumonia didn't encourage people to wash their hands.
SARS didn't either.

COVID-19 will be just a new normal. It will be like the regular flu, where yearly infection and death will be simply part of statistics.

indeed. There is no substantive evidence to say what the “actual” mortality rate of this virus is. And for the love of god it’s just another upper respiratory infection. Yes. People in their 60s+ are very susceptible to complications that can be life ending.

oh and note how all the “policy” makers are all in their 60s and 70s! I’m sure they’re more worried about the poor kids. Those 20 somethings trying to make ends meat. Not to mention the minors in school. We can’t let them get sick. Poor things. Cause... then they might get us infected too LOL

Sadly. This is quite likely, as you said, a totally overhyped variation on something like the flu.

I can say that I do a fair bit of biomed research and deal with cases of severe immunodeficiency and complications there-of and none of the medical professionals I’ve spoke with in the past few days feel the matter of the virus is of grave concern outside of perhaps their patient facilities (which cater to the immune compromised). And even then they aren’t having panic attacks about it.

oh and can someone explain the toilet paper shortage?????? Why do Americans do this stuff???
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indeed. There is no substantive evidence to say what the “actual” mortality rate of this virus is. And for the love of god it’s just another upper respiratory infection. Yes. People in their 60s+ are very susceptible to complications that can be life ending.

oh and note how all the “policy” makers are all in their 60s and 70s! I’m sure they’re more worried about the poor kids. Those 20 somethings trying to make ends meat. Not to mention the minors in school. We can’t let them get sick. Poor things. Cause... then they might get us infected too LOL

Sadly. This is quite likely, as you said, a totally overhyped variation on something like the flu.

I can say that I do a fair bit of biomed research and deal with cases of severe immunodeficiency and complications there-of and none of the medical professionals I’ve spoke with in the past few days feel the matter of the virus is of grave concern outside of perhaps their patient facilities (which cater to the immune compromised). And even then they aren’t having panic attacks about it.

oh and can someone explain the toilet paper shortage?????? Why do Americans do this stuff???

Sorry I just gotta add. That Meningitis outbreaks happen often and they wreak havoc on college campuses. The mortality rate of meningitis is far higher than any of these URIs.

 

[theluggage]

Yes alot longer than 2 weeks it seems for China even with their strict rules.

...and it's certainly going to be more than 2 weeks globally with different countries in different stages of the epidemic.

That's the danger with over-reacting and making these closures too soon - you can't keep them in place forever so the sooner you impose them the sooner you are forced to remove them. If its a drastic action that's only sustainable for a few weeks then it needs to be carefully targetted at the point in the curve where it will do the most good - and that will vary from region to region.

That said - I certainly wouldn't choose to join the typical scrum in an Apple store and handle iDevices and keyboards touched by 100 other people right now - and maybe Apple are already seeing that.

 

[newyorksole]

i was gona return an item this weekend (last day is 3/18).....think they will make an exception after they open? i dont even mind store credit

After working Apple Retail for 10 years... TRUST me when I say they absolutely 1000% WILL allow you to return whatever it is and give you a full refund via original payment method.

 

[DelayedGratificationGene]

That’s huge

Huh? China reopening is huge...btw that’s what she said...couldn’t resist
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Yeah! Or people sitting at the wooden tables for service requests, those hands are going everywhere.

Expect Apple stock tanking on Monday, closing the highest grossing stores on the planet for 3 weeks? Investors no likey!

We have bottomed sir this is a nonevent and u should have covered on friday

 

[Che Bao]

I think this is ridiculous, closing all store expect ones in "Greater China". I can't see anything but butt kissing with the word choice and the decision itself. I mean I really don't see china any safer than some other places in the world in terms of the outbreak. If he thinks only china is safe maybe he should move there. May be he didn't know china still have new cases and thousands of active cases that are reported or known, who knows what they hide or the undetected cases that are lurking. Very smart, educated and professional decision financially.

 

[newyorksole]

I kinda wonder if part of the reason they’re closing everything is because they are kinda curious to see how this impacts sales and whether they could go ahead and move to an all-online model over the coming decade to increase profits even more. Obviously the main reason is the 🦠 but still, you can bet they’ll be using this as a trial. Never let a crisis go to waste!

All online, meaning zero stores? Absolutely not. A lot of Apple’s success/profit comes from the stores. Yeah they may have to pay a lot of retail employees and pay a lot of rent, but the stores make a ton of money and keep people loyal.
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Hardly surprising given the fact every device in the store gets touched by hundreds of people every day.....no way they can keep those screens clean all day long and Apple wouldn't want a localised outbreak linked to one of their stores!!

Mannn... The stores are crawling with germs. Some more than others. Someone tried handing me their AirPods with earwax coating the speaker grill. He wanted me to test them for him! Yeah RIGHT! I’m not even TOUCHING them!

 

[Reason077]

indeed. There is no substantive evidence to say what the “actual” mortality rate of this virus is. And for the love of god it’s just another upper respiratory infection.

SARS-type coronaviruses target a receptor (angiotensin-converting enzyme 2, or ACE2) which is found in your lungs and not your upper respiratory tract. So it's really a respiratory infection, not an upper respiratory infection.

ACE2 itself is thought to help protect your lungs from damage during infections, so the fact that Covid-19 targets this may be one of the things that makes it particularly dangerous.

 

[himanshumodi]

Oh my. Smart move, but holy god the markets are going to get destroyed next week.

I know right. We are staring at a deep, deep recession right now. Depends on how long this Corona virus impact remains... real impact or false panic is immaterial, this could have some serious long term implications at each individual level. We all should worry. And perhaps, meditate!

 

[MarkAtl]

I was going to go to my local store for a new iPhone case (not Apple brand) but ended up getting it on Amazon for less than half the price. I can wait one extra day for delivery.

 

[lixuelai]

The fact that people are still debating or even caring about whether Apple stores close shows that they are not taking this seriously enough... Its the Apple store, not the local hospital.

 

[Glockworkorange]

At the exact same time the bluetooth radio on my iMac crapped out...
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I kinda wonder if part of the reason they’re closing everything is because they are kinda curious to see how this impacts sales and whether they could go ahead and move to an all-online model over the coming decade to increase profits even more. Obviously the main reason is the 🦠 but still, you can bet they’ll be using this as a trial. Never let a crisis go to waste!

This will at the very least be a data point toward that end.
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How does this bode for the rumor that there will be new product press releases next week? Not well. Personally, I’ve been looking forward to upgrading my 10.5” iPad pro, but that seems like an announcement that must be shelved for quite some time now, and for good reason.

They can slip them into the online store. That might not help you if you want to try it out, but there will be plenty of folks who will buy without caring knowing of the two week return policy
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What about the two week return policy? Will they extend that now since they don't have physical stores for two weeks?

 

[nylon]

This whole thing feels unbelievably dystopian. In my whole life I have never seen the planet shut down to this extent. I guess nature has a way of fighting back and it is incredibly effective.

 

[nylonsteel]

re op
bold move
aapl trying to do its part in uncertain times
stay well everyone

 

[jlc1978]

I always ordered my Apple computers online or Computer Discount Warehouse CDW back in 1998 around the time that Steve Jobs came back to APPLE

Maybe there would be more profit and sense to close most Apple stores and go strictly online ordering like Amazon?

Costs lots of money in rent each month for Apple and the cost of all those Apple store employees

When I have a problem I call Apple and speak to an APPLE TECH who works from Home anyway.

The stores are about a lot more than just sales; they are a marketing powerhouse. It's about the Apple expereience; and a lucky byproduct is their huge sales per sf.

 

[Kebabselector]

Just received an email saying that my genius appointment has been cancelled. I guess I’ll have to speak to Apple Support about what I do about my faulty AirPods

They'll probably talk you through the reset procedure (if applicable in your case) - that's helped me in the past when I was experiencing some issues.

 

[theluggage]

Clear message? lol Glorified influenza. The same people who might die of respiratory problems due to influenza are the same ones who might die from Corona. The only difference is that it's more contagious and currently there is no vaccine.

Article on COVID 19 vs. influenza: https://fullfact.org/health/coronavirus-compare-influenza/

TLNR summary: "Who knows? Even the fatality and infection rates for influenza are sketchy"

Currently, e.g. the UK has 10 fatalities from 800 known cases giving 1.25% - but the health officials also say that the true number of infections might be 5000-10000 in which case the death rate could be closer to the 0.1% being thrown around for flu. Testing has been predominantly focussed on people reporting symptoms after returning from infected areas, or the contacts of people who have tested positive". So if the virus was already in circulation before the panic started (and we know that China suppressed it for a while) then there could be lots of people with mild symptoms and no reason to get tested (so the fatality rate would be much lower than reported) and/or people testing positive might not have caught the virus abroad, or the contact that caused them to be tested - which would make the virus look more infectious than it is. Then again, the fatality reports seem to suggest that these are people known to be infected who subsequently died - so there could be unreported deaths or (harsh but true) some of those people would have died from the next infection that came along anyway.

None of that is an excuse for not taking reasonable measures - the real point is that even the experts are having to guess, and strike a balance between over-reaction (which can also have dire consequences) and complacency. Unfortunately we're already seeing politicians trying to score points and the media turning a-man-in-the-pub-says-close-schools tweets into news.

Even if it was "glorified influenza" that's no joke (flu kills ~500,000 a year, causes an annual crisis in under-resourced health services anyway, the vaccine isn't that efficient and has to be adapted for new strains each year) and we could do without new versions circulating. It's just a risk that we're used to.

However, it is also true that if the media suddenly decided that seasonal flu was top of the news agenda, started running a ticker of new cases and deaths, a headline for every C-list or above notable that got flu and started scouring the international press for self-fulfilling stories about toilet roll shortages, we'd see a similar reaction.

 

[sirozha]

How does this bode for the rumor that there will be new product press releases next week? Not well. Personally, I’ve been looking forward to upgrading my 10.5” iPad pro, but that seems like an announcement that must be shelved for quite some time now, and for good reason.

Dude. Seriously. Who cares about your iPad upgrade plans? The world is facing a one in a century calamity that may result in the number of dead by the end of 2020 that doubles the number of killed in WWII.

AAPL shareholders are facing AAPL going below $150 by the end of summer. Those who bet their retirement on AAPL will see their accounts more than halved.

Then come you with you iPad upgrade plans being derailed.
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i truely hope this disaster will lead to the end of wet markets in China where people sell and slaughter wildlife. If not to end animal suffering and pushing species to the brink of extinction, then at least to avoid global catastrophes like this. The economic impact will be dramatic. Not to mention the consequences for Apple‘s stock.

I’m not sure about the wet markets, but a lot of people’s wet dreams of becoming rich on gambling with stocks will stop for a while.

 

[DelayedGratificationGene]

Woah. Shareholders gasp!

Until March 27th... wow a big 13 days. Lol

 

[sirozha]

Apple doesn’t want to open itself up for numerous law suits from those who get infected in its stores. On the other hand, Apple knows that their revenu is going to take a huge hit in the next few months world wide due to the reduced manufacturing volumes as well as low demand because of the Coronavirus pandemic.

The decision of closing all the stores is purely a business decision to reduce Apple’s exposure to multi-billion-dollar liability judgments and settlements.

 

[Knightcastle]

i was gona return an item this weekend (last day is 3/18).....think they will make an exception after they open? i dont even mind store credit

Hello I have a return with less than two weeks left!

I reckon they’ll make good for stuff like this. Contact support online and check.

 

[HobbesInVA]

I was scheduled to pick up my APP replacement today. I called Apple to switch from store pickup to mail-in. Apple placed a hold on my credit card to ensure I return the defective APP. I'm ok with that because it's better than waiting for 2 weeks to pick up my replacement.

 

[nicho]

Currently, e.g. the UK has 10 fatalities from 800 known cases giving 1.25% - but the health officials also say that the true number of infections might be 5000-10000 in which case the death rate could be closer to the 0.1% being thrown around for flu.

Wishful thinking, since only 18 of those 800 have actually recovered. It's not like you die as soon as you develop COVID-19 and otherwise you're in the clear. As the cases have slowed down in China, the death rate has very slowly but very steadily increased - both within Wuhan where the majority of the cases were, and outside of Hubei province where the death rate was much lower but, crucially, still on the up. Not every one of the 12000 who still "have it" in China will survive.

They decided early on not to use the scarier figure that only calculates "closed" cases - deaths/(deaths+recoveries) - in favour of the nicer looking deaths/confirmed. But all that really does is give people a false sense of hope.

11 deaths and 18 recoveries gives a "true" mortality rate of 38%. More of the remaining 769 cases will die. It's unlikely to be ⅓ of them going forward because treatment will improve and there is some aspect of frontloading where people will likely die more quickly and recover more slowly. But the only way that 1.25% figure is going down is if it is masked by more confirmed cases, and the sad truth is that if more cases are confirmed then in all likelihood, more will die too.

China has big enough numbers to give me confidence in saying it won't drop anywhere near 0.1%. More cases = more deaths. Then cases slow down, but you still get more deaths... and so the death rate rises, not falls.
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I was scheduled to pick up my APP replacement today. I called Apple to switch from store pickup to mail-in. Apple placed a hold on my credit card to ensure I return the defective APP. I'm ok with that because it's better than waiting for 2 weeks to pick up my replacement.

I wonder, what about countries without mail in service as an option?

 

[lunarworks]

Makes sense. Think of how many grubby hands touch all those devices all day.