Apple plans to resume more stores in May after closing out of China due to the coronavirus epidemic. Apple CEO Tim Cook said stores in Australia and Austria could reopen in the next two weeks. Bloomberg. Cook also added that in the first half of May, several stores may be reopened in the United States.
"We will make decisions by location, depending on the circumstances of a particular place," Cook said. Apple says there are 458 stores outside China. Bloomberg.
Apple said it closed all stores outside of Greater China in March and will be "closed until further notice" thereafter. Apple reopened a single store in Korea in mid-April, but had never announced a specific reopening plan before.
Earlier this week, Apple's retailer Deerdre O & # 39; Brien said it will reopen more stores in May. Bloomberg. Apple initially closed all retail outlets in China, where the epidemic hit in February, but could open again in mid-March.
Store closures presented obvious problems for Apple and its customers. In addition to the lack of sales, one of Apple's major customer services, where customers can install repairs or devices (usually fairly quickly), has been discontinued. For the time being, some customers have fixed devices inside the store that cannot be retrieved due to closure.
Store closures also had a big impact on Apple's Apple Care business, and Cook said more customers started shopping online. But I'm not sure if the transition to online shopping will continue. Cook called once this afternoon and said, "Even if there is a permanent transition, I will hesitate." "I think people like going out. Now I know it's not the time to do that."
Apple also said the Cupertino headquarters will be closed by at least early June. Bloomberg. The company plans to conduct temperature checks, social distance and mask requirements, and potentially employee testing when the door is opened again.