President Donald Trump said he spoke with Apple CEO Tim Cook on Friday and discussed the Covid-19 pandemic and state of the economy.Â
Trump said Cook believes the economy will have a v-shaped recovery, where a big downturn is matched by an equally big upswing, following the outbreak.Â
An Apple spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In the past, Apple has ignored claims Trump has made about the company or private conversations with Cook.
The coronavirus has rattled markets for the majority of the year as investors grapple with its economic consequences. The virus has sickened more than 2.7 million people worldwide, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.Â
Shares of Apple began to sink in February, when the company warned it did not expect to meet its quarterly revenue forecast, citing slowed production and weakened demand in China as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.Â
Shares then cratered again in mid-March as part of a broad market sell off and after the Nikkei Asian Review reported that the company considered delaying its annual iPhone launch by months. Apple announced its newest, cheaper iPhone model, the iPhone SE, on April 15. The company has gained some of that drop back in April. Since January, Apple shares are down nearly 4.5%.