Apple sold less than 500k phones in feburary amid coronovirus outbreak in China

Reuters just reported that Apple sold less than 500k iphones in February amid coronovirus outbreak in China.  This is a significant drop compared to February 2019. Shipments of Apple devices slumped to 494,000, from 1.27 million in February 2019. In January, its shipments had held steady at just over 2 million.

Apple shares plunged more than 7.9% on March 9th on fears of faltering sales and a big drop in global oil prices. The company lost more than $100 billion in market cap in a single day.

“While this is very nervous time...we caution that Chinese demand in the March quarter is not the trend, but a “shock event” that we believe will be short lived,” Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives wrote in a note.

Android phones accounted for most of the drop as the shipments dropped by nearly half of 12.72 million units in February 2019 to 5.85 million.

Apple already faces stiff competition in China from local manufacturers. The company has been struggling to grow its market share in India and China.