Supplies of the hottest smartphones could soon run out amid pandemic fears

As Chinese factories hit by the coronavirus look to restart production, the pain is only beginning for carriers that rely on steady shipments of Asian smartphones.

AT&T Inc. is bracing for handset shortages across the U.S. A carrier in the U.K. and one in France are already dealing with supply disruption and could run out of some popular models, people familiar with the matter said.

British network operators may even resort to using stockpiles of phones they’d built up in case of a Brexit-related supply crunch, said one of the people, a company executive who asked not to be identified as the information is private.