Apple Inc.’s iPhone shipments plunged more than 60 per cent last month, according to official Chinese data, as the coronavirus forced the U.S. technology giant to close stores in the world’s largest smartphone market.

Shipments dropped to about 494,600 units from year-earlier levels, according to Bloomberg calculations based on monthly data from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, a government think tank. China’s February overall mobile phone shipments slid 56 per cent year-on-year to 6.4 million units, said CAICT.

Apple has been reopening its retail stores in China, trying to rebound from a sales hit tied to the coronavirus. Towards the end of last month, 29 of 42 stores in the country had resumed operations.