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Apple CEO Tim Cook.
- Tim Cook says he's "very optimistic" China is getting the novel coronavirus under control.
- Speaking to Fox Business on Thursday, the Apple CEO said the company was reopening factories and ramping up iPhone production.
- China is a key country for Apple, with so many iPhones manufactured in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou that it's nicknamed "iPhone city."
- Apple warned earlier in February that it would not meet its March revenue targets thanks to a production slowdown and China store closures.
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Tim Cook says he's "very optimistic" China is getting the novel coronavirus under control.
Speaking to Fox Business on Thursday, the Apple CEO cited reductions in the numbers of new cases being recorded in the country.
He said: "It feels to me that China is getting the coronavirus under control. I mean, if you look at the numbers, they're coming down day by day by day. So I'm very optimistic there."
Although the number of cases of COVID-19 (the disease caused by the virus) has surged in other countries, notably Italy and Iran, China appears to be witnessing a decline.
The World Health Organization's director-general said Monday that - according to a team of WHO-led scientists who visited China - the epidemic in China peaked and plateaued between January 23 and February 2 and has been declining steadily since then.
Cook also discussed how Apple's supply chains are coping in the wake of the coronavirus, claiming the company is in "the third phase of getting back to normal" as many of its factories have reopened. Apple warned earlier in February that it did not expect to hit its March revenue targets due to the coronavirus, due to slower production and China store closures.
"On the supplier side, we have suppliers everywhere," Cook told Fox. "[The] iPhone is built everywhere in the world. We have key components coming from the United States; we have key parts that are in China, and so forth. When you look at the parts that are done in China, we have reopened factories.
"So the factories were able to work through the conditions to reopen; they're reopening... So I think this is sort of the third phase of getting back to normal, and we're in phase three of the ramp mode."
China is a key country for Apple in terms of part supply and production. So many iPhones are manufactured at a Foxconn factory in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou that it's nicknamed "iPhone city."
Although Cook didn't touch on this in Monday's interview, Foxconn - which is the world's biggest iPhone manufacturer - is reportedly offering workers bonuses of more than twice their monthly salary to entice them to come work in the company's gradually re-opening factories.
