Apple’s warning on Monday night over the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on production of the iPhone sent a chill through world markets. The admission by the world’s largest company that it is unlikely to meet revenue guidance for the three months to the end of March, because of a virus-linked slowdown in production and demand in China, is not merely a headache for Apple shareholders — it has a knock-on effect on several UK-listed companies.
Shares in IQE, which makes semiconductor wafers for chips used in Apple’s products, lost almost 9 per cent of their value at one point yesterday as analysts began to downgrade their revenue and profit expectations for the Cardiff-based group on the back of Apple’s warning. Those shares closed 3¾p,