Quote:Tech giants including Apple have faced the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in the form of supply chain hits, wavering demands, and a transition to working from home, among other things. Considering this, in a recent report by the Wall Street Journal, the Cupertino firm will be taking measures that will address these effects.
 
Firstly, the firm will be decreasing the number of handsets that it plans to make in the second half of this year by as much as 20%. This includes the anticipated lineup of the four new iPhones that Apple is rumored to unveil this year, sporting 5G and a design ideology that borrows from the current iPad Pro.
 
The firm will also be delaying the production ramp-up of these flagship iPhones by about a month, according to people familiar with the matter. This is due to the factory closures that have struck down manufacturing in China and Asia in general, though physical stores are slowly opening up in countries that have flattened the curve and quarantined effectively.
 
Steps to mitigate the effects of the pandemic have been taken by other companies as well. Most recently, Google CEO Sundar Pichai stated that the company will slow hiring for the remainder of the year. However, the e-commerce giant Amazon has increased its workforce by opening more jobs and building its own testing lab for workers despite calls for social distancing worldwide.