The coronavirus outbreak has been declared a pandemic by WHO on March the 11th of this year. This has taken a toll on public morale as well as industrial output. So, what is actually this coronavirus? The coronavirus is the carrier of a flu-like disease, the COVID-19, which spreads through contact or coughing and sneezing. It may be avoided only by washing hands frequently, and limiting contact with other humans who are possible carriers of this virus. This has, to say the least, taken a major toll on businesses and companies that entailed long travels in their day-to-day working.
The technology industry has taken this as a blow with a silver lining. Major gathering-based events and conferences such as the Google I/O, Facebook F8, Mobile World, and lately the E3 gaming show have all been cancelled. On the other hand, newer technologies in the fields of robotics and remote communication are being developed at an unprecedented speed.
Many technological companies have curtailed their employees’ travel to China and other Asian countries. Many tech offices have been shut down in Asia as well. This had led to a stark depletion in the demand for various technological commodities. For example, Apple has said the sale of its iPhones is predicted to go down by a considerable margin after it shut offices in China.
Most products are manufactured in a part-by-part manner with a number of countries pitching in their parts. Therefore, border lockdowns across the globe have slowed down manufacturing of such products by a huge margin. The demand for exported goods has also taken a hit due to the paranoia surrounding goods from countries affected, especially China and Italy.
Many companies are pondering over the looming possibility of delaying their much-awaited product launched due to the severe crackdown on the exports to other countries, and the cancellation of major conferences and shows. For example, Facebook has stopped taking new orders for its latest Oculus Quest VR headset, citing the coronavirus outbreak as a cause.
While hardware-based companies are taking the major brunt due to the outbreak of this coronavirus, other sectors too are on the line of fire. Companies based on travel and travel advisory are being forced to advise people to restrain their travel plans and thereby forego a part of their annual revenue. This is imminent with regards to the safety measures that are required to be observed in order to contain this outbreak. Many companies are in the process of announcing possible budget cuts to counter this decline of demand in technological industry due to the coronavirus outbreak.
On the other hand, some of the more offbeat companies have actually benefitted from this outbreak of the coronavirus. As more and more people choose to cut down on their daily traveling, entertainment-based companies like Netflix have reported a sudden spike in their viewing hours. Similar stats have evolved for home-delivery-based companies such as UberEats and Amazon. Zoom, the popular telecommunication company reported a massive increase in their share value as more and more people were encouraged to work from their homes.
The Indian technological industry has taken a hit because of the coronavirus, since most the clientele of the IT sector is affected by the threat of the pandemic and is likely to vary its expenditure as a result. The en masse reaction to this novel coronavirus is dynamically changing consumer sentiment, and companies are reporting losses in lieu of disrupted supply chains, interrupts in manufacturing, empty stores and depleting demand for their wares.
Due to India’s rather weak trade and industrial ties with China, the number of inter-migrating people is way less as compared to European or American countries. This is one of the reasons why India has not yet felt a more visible impact as compared to the USA and the European countries.
In conclusion, no matter what else happens science will break through. Yay science! An important message to all our readers- wash your hands. Follow guidelines recommended by the WHO and curtail contact with potentially sick people, and again, WASH YOUR HANDS!
