Coronavirus forces Apple and Google to restrict travel, close stores

The tech industry is heavily dependent on China as a manufacturer and a market, but the deadly virus is causing problems.

Silicon Valley is bracing for the coronavirus outbreak to impact its bottom line as Google closed its offices in China and Apple said its production would be affected.

Google, which has 10 offices spread between mainland China and Taiwan, confirmed last week that the offices – which had been closed for the Lunar New Year – would remain closed for the foreseeable future.

A man wearing a face mask walks past an Apple store in Hong Kong. Apple is temporarily closing its 42 stores in mainland China, one of its largest markets. Picture: AP Photo/Vincent Yu

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The company also reportedly said its charitable arm provided a $US250,000 ($A373,640) grant to the Chinese Red Cross to help with relief efforts, and the company’s internal campaign for assistance has raised $US500,000 ($A747,280).

Last week, Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a call with investors the company had limited employee travel to China to “business-critical” matters, and the firm was donating to groups trying to contain the outbreak.

A woman and her child play on a Google sign in Shanghai. Picture: Johannes Eisele/ AFP

“The situation is emerging and we’re still gathering lots of data points and monitoring it really closely,” Mr Cook said. “We have a wider than usual revenue range for the second quarter due to the greater uncertainty.”

The Apple chief executive also confirmed that many of its retail locations in China has scaled back their hours and were also undergoing frequent “deep cleaning”.

An ‘abundance of caution’ is behind Apple’s decision to temporarily close stores in China, like this one being patrolled by security guards in Beijing last year. Picture: AP Photo/Ng Han Guan

Meanwhile, a Microsoft spokesperson told Forbes that the company had “advised employees in China to work from home and cancel all non-essential business travel”.

As of Monday morning, there were 14,642 known cases of coronavirus, including 12 in Australia.

In less than four weeks, 305 people around the world have died from the virus.

This article originally appeared on Fox News and was reproduced with permission