Technology giant Apple chief executive Tim Cook has indicated some Australian stores will reopen within two weeks.

In an interview with Bloomberg following the release of the company’s second quarter results Cook said Apple is planning to reopen stores in Australia and Austria over the next few weeks, while “just a few, not a large number” of stores in the US could reopen in May. 

“The question is: When do stores reopen, when do the shelter-in-places come off, when is it comfortable to go back to working instore and have consumers come out?”, Cook told Reuters.

“Rather than pretend we can project it, we’re being very straightforward and saying we lack the visibility to do it.”

Despite the global impact of the COVID-19 virus Apple saw growth in revenue, albeit by 1 per cent, to US$58.3 billion. 

The result was primarily driven by increases in wearables, home and accessories, which rose by ~22 per cent, and services, which rose by ~16 per cent. These gains offset the falls in iPhone, Mac and iPad sales during the quarter, which fell by ~6 per cent, ~3 per cent and ~10 per cent respectively.

Sales from the Asia Pacific region landed at $3.8 billion, a 7.4 per cent increase on the prior corresponding period and around 6 per cent of total sales. 

“We’re clearly not immune to the macroeconomic environment,” Cook told Reuters. 

“I’m not sure hardly anybody is immune at this point. As compared to the last part of March and the beginning of April, we’ve seen a better second half of April.”

In the first five weeks of the second quarter Apple were growing quickly, Cook said, though this changed suddenly when COVID-19 hit China and Apple’s supply chain and regional sales.