Apple Inc. said Monday that its bottom line will very likely take a hit because of the spread of COVID-19, better known as the coronavirus.

In a press release, the company said that it does not expect to meet its own revenue guidance for the second quarter, for two major reasons. The first one is iPhone supplies and the second is the fact that demand for Apple products in China has fallen.

“While our iPhone manufacturing partner sites are located outside the Hubei province — and while all of these facilities have reopened — they are ramping up more slowly than we had anticipated,” Apple said. “The health and well-being of every person who helps make these products possible is our paramount priority, and we are working in close consultation with our suppliers and public health experts as this ramp continues.”

Apple’s move follows other high-profile casualties of the rapidly spreading virus, including the cancellation last week of the mobile conference MWC in Barcelona and a halt in production earlier this month by Chinese manufacturing giant Foxconn, which provides products for just about every major tech company.

Apple itself had warned in a conference call following its first-quarter earnings Jan. 29 of a wider range than usual of its projected second-quarter earnings. The company also said Feb. 2 that it had temporarily closed all of its own stores in China, while many of its partner stores have also shut their doors. Corporate offices and contact centers are still open and online stores haven’t been affected.

Many partner stores that have remained open have been working at reduced hours, but not so many people in China have been shopping in once-busy malls. Right now it’s reported that about half of China’s population is living under various kinds of restrictions.

In a memo to staff obtained by Bloomberg, Chief Executive Tim Cook said the company’s main concern right now was the welfare of employees, customers, suppliers and partners, adding that, “Apple is fundamentally strong, and this disruption to our business is only temporary.”

Many analysts agree, in that while the announcement will undoubtedly send some shock waves in the direction of investors, this is a temporary tremor for Apple and things should smooth out throughout the rest of the year.

That said, some aren’t so sure. Holger Mueller of Constellation Research Inc. said Apple may be feeling the pain sooner than some other companies, both since its supply chain is highly dependent on Chinese manufacturers and since it’s an increasingly large market for the iPhone maker. “The supply chain guru Tim Cook will have to answer what he has done in the last two years to fortify the Apple supply chain, when Apple had warnings due to Chinese dependencies,” he said.

And Apple’s announcement is yet another signal that Chinese manufacturers are facing highly uncertain times. “The trillion-dollar question is, can the Chinese factories resume operation — or not?” Mueller said. “If they can’t, many more enterprises will be affected, particularly the ones without a diversified supply chain.”

Earlier in January, Cook said that Apple had donated money to support the global health response to the outbreak, although he didn’t put a number on that. In the memo, Cook said that donation has now doubled in size.

With reporting from Robert Hof

Photo: Studio Incendo/Flickr