Nigerian phone vendors  who travelled to China for the Chinese festival shopping season in late January are unable return to the due to the Corona Virus outbreak.

Speaking to Punch Correspondent in Lagos, the traders disclosed that Nigerian vendors had not been able to return to the country as their business had not been concluded due to the shutdown of factories and restricted movement in China.

Confirming the state of the situation, the Chairman, Lagos State chapter of the Association of Mobile Phone and Allied Products Traders in Nigeria, Mr Ifeanyi Akubue, said the outbreak of the virus had not in any way affected the availability of mobile phones and accessories.

On the state of sales, he said many traders still had a stockpile of the products since December 2019 as sales had been slow, making the devices readily available.

In Akubue’s words, “Most of our colleagues who travelled to China are not back and those who are here are not ready to travel. Most of the factories are closed and people are not allowed to move around, especially in Shenzhen.”

Meanwhile,as a result of the outbreak,  Tech giants like Apple, Samsung, Google and Microsoft had shut their stores in China.

The Head, Corporate Communications, Zinox Technologies, Gideon Ayogu, also shared his thoughts. He stated that the outbreak had impacted the production and shipment of components and hardware, production planning and forecasting had helped the company.

According to the latest report by International Data Corporation, the epidemic would create uncertainty in product launch plans and distribution channels.

Punch