Xiaomi shutters its Chinese physical stores in response to the coronavirus crisis

A new disease has reportedly broken out in the Wuhan area of China, in a manner that has drawn parallels with the SARS outbreak of the earlier 2000s. This condition, which is associated with a coronavirus, has already claimed approximately 80 lives.

Xiaomi, one of the most successful mobile device OEMs in this country, has responded to this situation by pledging to keep its physical stores closed for several days. It has a relatively large number of these, and in fact added 100 more at the end of 2019.

This will take effect from January 28, 2020 to February 3, 2020. The OEM has also announced that those who really want to buy Xiaomi devices over this period can do so via its online store or its Mall app, although delivery may be delayed.

It is not the only major tech company to contribute to municipal responses to the epidemic: for example, Lenovo has reportedly donated the IT equipment necessary to complete a new emergency medical center in Wuhan.