Apple is warning investors it won’t meet its second-quarter financial guidance because the coronavirus outbreak in China has cut production of iPhones.

The California-based company said on Monday all of its iPhone manufacturing facilities are outside Hubei province, the epicentre of the outbreak, and all have been reopened. But the company said production was ramping up slowly.

“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 said in a statement.

The death toll from Covid-19, a disease caused by the new coronavirus, was 1,770 as of Monday.

China Outbreak Apple
Employees applaud as a customer enters a reopened Apple Store in Beijing (Mark Schiefelbein/AP)

Apple said demand for iPhones was also down in China because many of Apple’s 42 retail stores there were closed or operating with reduced hours.

China is Apple’s third largest retail market for iPhones, after the US and Europe.

Outside China, Apple said iPhone demand had been strong and was in line with the company’s expectations.

On January 28, Apple said it expected second quarter revenue between $63 billion and $67 billion (£48.4 billion and £51.5 billion).

Apple’s second quarter ends March 30.

Apple said the situation was evolving and it would provide more information on its next earnings call in April.