Novel coronavirus, also known as COVID 19, has spread out across the globe and affected tens of thousands of people. The pandemic declared by the World Health Organisation has taken a toll on the economy and continuing to decimate it further.
While there is no vaccination available for COVID 19, it is essential to stay at home to contain the virus, but it is leaving no stone unturned to affect the economy. Nobody knows the exact origin source of COVID 19, but the outbreak has affected each industry. This blog will discuss the implication of the tech world.
As the COVID 19 outbreak continues to spread, now is the time for the tech world to have a roadmap to mitigate the associated risk and brace for dealing with the fallout. The first step is to establish an interdisciplinary team to identify and manage the risk associated with the outbreak.
Stores are shut, and executives are prohibited from going to the site or workplace where they could put out products. The open units have been struggling to have enough supplies to continue the manufacturing to a standard level. However, there has been a sharp plunge in demand for goods, making it so visible.
Store closures led to sales reduction
Seeing the uncontrollable spread of the COVID 19, major tech companies have decided to shut down stores temporarily. However, the governments of different countries have imposed complete lockdown to encourage social distancing to contain the virus, which has made it compulsory for tech companies to close their stores. These companies include Apple, Microsoft, Samsung, and Google.
The mobile industry has been dramatically affected because of COVID 19, and the sales have sharply dropped. It has hit revenue. Although such stores kept open their online stores, they experienced a 50% fall in their online sales too. It is assumed that people stopped buying because they did not want to block their money.
Adoption of new technology is slow
Although the outbreak of coronavirus has affected the world primarily, B2B is on the rise. If one side of the business has shown a significant fall in demand for goods, the other hand has proved that it has become a boom for those rendering online services to other companies. Now everything is revolving around virtual meetings, digital healthcare, online education, and cybersecurity.
There is an opportunity for some apps and software to grow because more and more people are working from home. Some experts suggest that this boom will dissipate as the situation gets normal. Contrary to the sharp rise in the software industry, the adoption of new technologies by enterprises happens at a slower pace.
However, the growth in the business will not be as much visible as witnessed during the SARS epidemic. Consumer behavior has changed drastically with the outbreak of COVID 19, and hence enterprises are not accepting the new technology at a faster pace. The current scenario suggests that opportunities do not stand a chance because of the pandemic.
The pandemic has caused people to lock themselves in their rooms, and therefore it is encouraging more people to use apps for services like grocery delivery, etc. Still, how long it will render the benefit to enterprises, there is no clarity.
The strength of any business depends on the ability to solve users’ problems. The survival, in the long run, depends on how quickly they provide their customers with both affordability and convenience. Seeing the current scenario, the software industry may be performing better, but there is no surety that it will keep it up as enterprises are not motivated to invest.
Production rate is disappointingly slow
China is a hub of most of the technological gadgets like smartphones, headsets, cars and other technical products. Factory workers are unable to resume work, and hence it is not possible to manufacture such items. China has been the largest exporter in the world after the USA in 2018.
The Chinese market accounted for around 58% of the world’s broadcast equipment export, 55% of the world’s computer export, and 49% of the world’s smartphones.
These staggering figures have become the thing of the past. Apart from China, other countries are also facing a low production level. Factories contributing to this high level of production are no longer in operation because of the pandemic, which has made a significant fall in revenues. A low level of production means a low level of supply and an inability to meet the demand.
There has been a downfall in demand for technological goods since the outbreak of COVID 19. Everyone has been struggling to have cash coming in. But even a significant demand can contribute nothing because the manufacturing is shut down.
Companies like Google, Dell, HP that moved their production centers to countries out of China failed to escape from bearing the impact of COVID 19 because many of the components of products produced are sourced from China, which means zero levels of production. Undoubtedly, the supply chain in the tech industry has been primarily affected by COVID 19.
Apart from the tech world, COVID 19 has affected several other businesses. It is quite apparent that people will not earn money by costing their lives. This pandemic is rapidly spreading out, posing a threat to the life of people. Social distancing is the only solution to combat this virus, which is why the representatives of various nations have imposed lockdown.
The UK, the US, Italy, France, and Asian countries are struggling to battle this country. In the UK, most of the people are being laid off. Coronavirus has increased the rate of unemployment. Unemployed people have been struggling to meet their day-to-day expenses, including debt repayments. Though people can avail of a mortgage payment holiday, most people cannot take a sigh of relief because they need a job as soon as possible to make payments. Thankfully, some online mortgage brokers in the UK are helping borrowers to get more extension in repayments by convincing lenders on behalf of them.
Description: Coronavirus has severely affected the tech world. Production is slow, demand has dropped, and the adoption of new technology is also very slow.
