Corporate America fights back

When the chips are down it seems that corporate America has a habit of pulling together despite differing political opinions. As the US, especially New York City, is ravaged by the coronavirus, Apple have sprung into action. In a perfect example of innovation and speed of action the company has started producing medical equipment for medical workers across the US.

One million face shields per week

In just a matter of days, Apple has brought together:-

• Product designers
• Engineers
• Packaging teams
• Distributors

The company is on course to make 1 million medical face shields per week with the first already having been delivered. The simple but extremely effective face shields can be packed 100 to a box and assembled in less than two minutes. At the same time the company has already donated 20 million N95 masks to the US government and medical facilities up and down the country.

Fighting the fight

Over the last few weeks the US government has been firefighting after initially appearing to ignore the potential dangers of the coronavirus. Only last week Donald Trump was suggesting that a malaria drug could be the key to treating the virus. However, this was very quickly dismissed by his medical team and we are back to square one with regards to medical treatment and an eventual vaccine.

Thankfully, a lack of government direction has not put off the likes of Apple as the call arms goes right across the US corporate sector. Currently, Apple employees who usually reside in the corporate offices in California are working from home. Such is the threat of the virus that US businesses, and those across the world, have been hugely impacted.

Stock markets

At this moment in time the indications are that the US stock market will open up on Monday morning. It seems there is a little more confidence in the US government’s strategy and ability to bring under control what is devastating virus. Whether this expected bounce is short lived we will see, as the timing of a real recovery is a huge matter for debate. The death toll in New York City continues to rise and this area now accounts for approaching 50% of all US deaths. It will only be after the virus is under control that experts can begin to pick away at reasons why New York has been so heavily impacted.

Apple, innovation and the future

The fact that Apple has been able to design, manufacture and deliver high grade medical face shields in just a matter of days is astounding. The design is such that with speed being of the essence these masks can be assembled within two minutes. Are there any other areas of business Apple can turn its hand to? Perhaps there is the potential to create a stand-alone medical division as and when the coronavirus is under control?

The key to the short term direction of both US and worldwide stock markets is control and planning. This virus has decimated countries across the world and with over 1 million infections we can expect hundreds of thousands to die. Thankfully, there are signs that countries such as Italy and Spain are over the worst although unfortunately it looks as though the US will see a significant upturn in infections and deaths over the coming days.

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