The coronavirus outbreak's “too many unknowns” prevent Hewlett Packard Enterprise from publishing financial guidance for its fiscal Q2 ending April 30, said CEO Antonio Neri on a Q1 call Tuesday. “Macro uncertainty,” including from coronavirus-induced components shortages, sent revenue down 7% in Q1 ended Jan. 31, he said. The virus “is causing disruption to both supply and demand,” said Chief Financial Officer Tarek Robbiati. “While we cannot quantify the real impact at this time, we're monitoring the situation closely and are working with our suppliers to minimize potential impacts.” HP Enterprise decided to cancel or postpone most of its sales conferences and other “sponsored events” through April “out of abundance of caution” for employees, customers and partners, said Robbiati. “This is also causing supply and demand disruptions and affecting our revenue profile.” Shares closed 2.6% lower Wednesday at $12.26.

Logitech scaled back its profit outlook for fiscal 2020 ending March 31 to $365 million-$375 million due to “short-term coronavirus impacts,” said the company Tuesday. Previous guidance was $375 million-$385 million. The company reaffirmed its outlook of mid-high single-digit percentage sales growth in constant currency but expects a $30 million hit to revenue for the year. The impact on operating income from the coronavirus plus Section 301 tariffs on goods produced in China is expected to be about $60 million, it said. Though the company sees “continued strong demand” for products, “we are slightly adjusting our operating income outlook to account for supply chain uncertainties related to the trajectory of the coronavirus,” said CEO Bracken Darrell.

“Many uncertainties” surround the coronavirus and its impact on the Chinese supply chain, said Roku’s 2019 annual report Monday. Unknown are the “scientific and health issues” about how coronavirus spreads, plus the “duration and extent of economic disruption in China and other markets,” said the 10-K filing. Coronavirus “may result in supply shortages of our products or our licensee’s products,” said Roku. “Any decrease, limitations or delays on our or our licensees’ ability to import, export, or sell our streaming devices would harm our business.” Roku players use specific SoC solutions and Wi-Fi front-end modules from various manufacturers, “for which we do not have a second source,” said the company. “Although this approach allows us to maximize player performance on lower cost hardware,” it also creates “supply chain risk,” it said. These “sole-source suppliers” may face “production, shipping, or logistical constraints” from the coronavirus outbreak, it said. “Any such interruption or delay may force us to seek similar components from alternative sources, which may not be available.” Amazon, Best Buy and Walmart collectively were 72% of Roku player revenue in 2019, up from 68% in 2018, said Roku.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said his visit to India with President Donald Trump was a big moment in his career. “It was a special honor to represent the top levels of the U.S. government visiting the country where my parents grew up,” Pai told reporters Friday after his agency's meeting. He noted he was the highest-ranking U.S. person of Indian dissent at a state dinner hosted by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Discussions with telecom regulators included the 3.5 and 6 GHz bands and supply chain security, Pai said.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., seeks Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. review of national security implications of AT&T’s upcoming sale of its majority stake in Central European Media Group Enterprises to Czech Republic-based private equity firm PPF Group. AT&T said in October it would sell its share of CME for $1.1 billion in cash and be relieved of a $575 million debt guarantee. The Trump administration “needs to conduct closer reviews of corporate deals like AT&T’s sale of CME, and understand how the Chinese government and Communist Party work through proxies like PPF,” Rubio wrote Attorney General William Barr and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, released Wednesday. “Failure to do so undercuts U.S. diplomatic efforts aimed at countering the Chinese Communist Party’s political interference.” PPF and CEO Petr Kellner “have a record of acting as China’s proxies inside the Czech Republic” and “have supported China’s malign activities abroad,” Rubio said. PPF “has already used its expected acquisition of CME's Czech media outlets to intimidate Czech media and politicians into silence.” AT&T didn’t comment Thursday.

“Growing concerns” about the coronavirus persuaded Facebook to cancel its May 5-6 “F8" developers conference in San Jose, blogged Director-Developer Platforms Konstantinos Papamiltiadis Thursday. “This was a tough call,” he said. “We explored other ways to keep the in-person part of F8, but it’s important to us to host an inclusive event and it didn’t feel right to have F8 without our international developers in attendance.” The company plans to replace the conference with “a combo of locally hosted events, videos and live streamed content,” with additional details in “coming weeks,” he said.

Three Democratic 2020 presidential candidates said they wouldn’t allow Chinese companies to build critical U.S. infrastructure, during a Tuesday night debate. None of the three -- former Vice President Joe Biden, former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts -- specifically mentioned Chinese telecom equipment manufacturers Huawei and ZTE. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., reached a deal before the Presidents Day recess for the chamber to soon pass the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act (HR-4998) by unanimous consent (see 2002130054). The House-passed bill would allocate at least $1 billion to help U.S. communications providers remove from their networks Chinese equipment determined to threaten national security. The three candidates pivoted to other issues on China, including whether President Xi Jinping is a dictator. Bloomberg emphasized it’s important for the U.S. to push China to uphold trade agreements that bar the “stealing of intellectual property.” The FCC asked eligible telecom carriers Wednesday whether they use equipment or services from Huawei or ZTE (see 2002260010).

A Commerce Department agency plans the first meeting of its Emerging Technology Technical Advisory Committee this spring, amid delays issuing prospective members security clearances. A Bureau of Industry and Security spokesperson emailed that the agency remains “on target” to have the meeting before summer. Commerce officials originally scheduled the meeting for December, and then January, delaying it each time. ETTAC applicants are impatient, and trade lawyers have heard little information, they said in interviews last week. Adrienne Braumiller, a trade lawyer with Braumiller Law Group and member of BIS’ Regulations and Procedures TAC, has “no clear understanding” of why the process has taken so long, calling it “rather protracted and lengthy.” Doug Jacobson of Jacobson Burton heard about “numerous delays in the process” but hasn't heard why. ETTAC’s “primary focus” will be to identify emerging technologies with dual-use applications, says its charter. Those efforts will inform Commerce restricting sales of emerging technologies, which faced delays (see 1911070026). Commerce has released two sets of controls on emerging technologies without ETTAC input.

Needham lowered its March-quarter revenue estimates for Apple by 13% Tuesday based on coronavirus-related supply chain bottlenecks and lower demand from China. Greater China generated about 15% of Apple’s December quarter revenue and typically is 15-20% of the company’s sales. Apple’s Feb. 17 revenue-forecast downgrade (see 2002180004), plus new coronavirus "hot spots" in Italy, Iran and South Korea, "suggest that lowering our AAPL estimates is the more prudent choice,” said analyst Laura Martin. She now assumes normal supply and demand will resume by June 1, not March as she previously assumed. The longer coronavirus disruptions continue past the first of June, “the greater the threat to AAPL's Sept new product launches (including its 5G phone) and Christmas selling season revenue, which represented about 32% of annual revs in each of the past 3 years,” she wrote investors. Needham’s estimates assume coronavirus disruptions -- including supply chain and demand weakness -- don’t affect the September or December quarters: “This assumption may prove too optimistic,” said Martin. Due to low inventories and supply chain disruption, Needham lowered March and June estimates for unit sales of AirPods and iPhone 11s; it also expects a delay in the launch of the rumored, smaller iPhone, the SE 2, “from its originally scheduled March Q launch.” Apple hosts an event on March 31 but didn't comment now. Monday, HP said the virus is affecting it, too (see report, this issue.)

Coronavirus-induced travel and transportation restrictions that persist beyond March “are likely to pressure global supply chains and potentially create worldwide economic fallout,” said a Congressional Research Service report Wednesday. “Measures to contain the outbreak have significantly curtailed domestic and global transportation links, preventing the transport of many products and manufacturing inputs,” it said. Production has slowed across China, with “sharp slowdowns in sectors concentrated in Hubei,” including LCD panels, it said. Sourcing that diversified to other parts of Asia after the Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods “often depends on intermediate inputs from China and thus is not insulated from China’s production slowdown,” it said.