Daily US Times: Giant tech company Microsft said it would not meet its sales forecast for the upcoming quarter because of the impact of the coronavirus on its Windows and Surface businesses.
The company said in a statement that the business segment Microsoft calls “More Personal Computing” — which includes revenue from licensing Windows to PC manufacturers and its line of Surface hardware is unlikely to hit the company’s predicted $10.75 billion to $11.15 billion in revenue “due to uncertainty related to the public health situation in China.”
But the company’s other business is unchanged. Microsoft shares were down about 2% in after-hours trading immediately following the announcement to about $167 per share.
The updated guidance comes after Microsoft canceled events in China in Shanghai, Taipei, and most recently Hong Kong related to its Ignite conference.
The company said on Wednesday that it is closely monitoring the situation of COVID-19, the name of the latest coronavirus, and their top priority remains the health and safety of our employees, customers, partners, and communities.
“Our global health response team is acting to help protect our employees in accordance with global health authorities’ guidance,” Microsoft added.
According to a report from Nikkei Asian Review citing unnamed sources, Microsoft could be moving the production of its Surface devices out of China because of the virus. But Microsoft did not make any comment on the matter.
The announcement of potential sales forecast miss comes after Microsoft last quarter had what appears to be the best quarter for its Windows business since Satya Nadella became CEO in 2014 and started refocusing the company on the cloud.
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