The COVID-19 coronavirus outbreaks across the world has forced the industry to take actions as impacts brought the epidemic continue to expand. In the U.S., equipment provider Veeco said that the epidemic is inevitably affecting its business for 1Q20 and thus withdrew its guidance for the first quarter. LiDAR maker Velodyne also noted that its offices in Bay Area, San Francisco are closed, following the mandatory “shelter-in-place” order in the area.
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Veeco said that it puts the health and well-being of its employees, customers, suppliers and stakeholders at high priority. Since several California counties issued a “shelter-in-place” on March 16, 2020, Veeco’s facility in San Jose and possibly the facilities of certain customers are unable to operate until April 7, 2020.
These government directives may impact the ability of Veeco for meeting its guidance for the first quarter of 2020. Therefore, the company decided to withdrawing guidance for the first quarter, ending March 31, 2020, which was previously provided on February 13, 2020 based on best known information at the time.
The shelter-in-place order also impacted Velodyne Lidar, who has offices in Bay Area. The LiDAR maker has closed its offices until April 7, 2020 but said it will remain operational to assess and meet customer needs by utilizing manufacturing centers globally that are currently open. Velodyne also built buffer inventory for its popular products to assure continue shipment.