Apple's quarterly earnings report is usually when Apple talks about its business. And today (January 28), the company had plenty to talk about as it posted record revenue and profits in its fiscal first quarter.

But these conference calls are also a chance for analysts to ask Tim Cook questions for insight into Apple's business; when he's not talking about the iPhone's strong sales recovery or the rapid growth of Apple's wearables and services, Cook is talking about the outbreak in China coronavirus, the prospects for 5G smartphones, and Apple's vision for Apple TV plus streaming services, among several other notable topics. The Apple CEO's remarks are as follows.

Apple has more than casual interest in coronavirus outbreaks like the pneumonia outbreak that started in Wuhan, China and spread to other areas, including several cases in the United States. China is an important part of Apple's business, and Apple's sales in the Greater China region increased slightly last quarter after a recent downturn. And Apple has employees and suppliers in China as well.

"We are closely following the development of the coronavirus," Cook said. ''We are donating to groups working to contain the outbreak. We are working closely with Apple team members and partners in the affected areas. And our thoughts are with all those affected in the region."

In addition to the human suffering, Apple has another reason to keep an eye on developments in China. The majority of the company's products are assembled there, and a serious outbreak could affect Apple's supply chain. Amid reports that the coronavirus outbreak could affect high-tech companies in general and Apple in particular, Cook said that Apple is closely monitoring the situation, although he did not mention specific products.

"We have several suppliers in the Wuhan area," Cook said. He added, "All of these suppliers have alternative sources of supply and are obviously working on mitigation plans to make up for the anticipated production losses.

Outside of Wuhan, the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on Apple's supply chain is less clear. Cooks said, "The reopening of these factories after Chinese New Year has been delayed from the end of this month to February 10, depending on supplier location."

As for Apple's retail stores in China, the company has closed one of its retail outlets and is taking precautionary measures at other stores, including "frequent deep cleaning of stores as well as temperature checks on employees."

Apple attempted to take into account the potential impact of the coronavirus on its efforts in China and beyond when it released its quarterly sales forecast for the March quarter. Apple expects sales to be in the range of $63 billion to $67 billion when the second quarter ends in March.

Apple's quarterly conference calls with Wall Street analysts are characterized by analysts trying to get information out of Apple about future products. Such was the case on today's conference call, and the 5G iPhone, expected this fall, was the subject of this latest Q&A session.

Will 5G iPhones help drive demand, one analyst wanted to know. Cook did not bite." I think we are in the early stages of [5G] deployment on a global basis," he said.

"We're obviously very proud of our lineup and very excited about our pipeline as well.

Another analyst wondered what the cost of 5G phones would be. Cook was, again, negative about anything related to the iPhone. Cook said, "I don't want to comment on the price of a handset that hasn't been announced."

Cook wanted to talk about Apple TV Plus, a streaming service launched in November with modest original programming; Apple TV Plus costs $4. The service is free for one year with the purchase of a Mac, iPhone, iPad, or other Apple hardware.

The service is "off to a strong start," Cook said, citing, among other things, the nominations and awards for "The Morning Show. We continue to focus on telling important stories, like the recently released and widely critically acclaimed "Little America," and there is a lot more great content coming," Cook said. [Apple intends to measure the success of Apple TV Plus by the number of subscribers, which is why it has set the service at $4.99 per month and bundled it with new Apple product purchases, Cook said. That's why we're pricing the service at $4.99/month and bundling it with new Apple purchases," Cook said. But the product itself is about storytelling. If it works, we think we'll have a number of critically acclaimed productions."

One analyst asked Cook if it would be possible to deliver targeted ads to Apple TV subscribers without compromising their privacy. Cook said, "I think it's possible to serve ads in a straightforward way that doesn't violate people's privacy." I don't want to speculate about us in that business...in the TV Plus business, we feel very strongly that what our customers want is an ad-free product." It's not an aversion to advertising, it's what we believe our customers want."