Coronavirus Report: How is the Pandemic Affecting the Tech World? [Inside Story]

Coronavirus (COVID-19) has become a global pandemic that’s gotten everybody scared about their health. From memes to news, the coronavirus has shown its relentless presence to us in every way possible. Up until now, according to WHO Reports more than 93,000+ cases have been recorded out of which 3,100+ deaths have been documented. And more people are getting affected as every second passed by.

It may not seem like a pandemic that could take down the tech industry, does it? Well, surprisingly the effects of coronavirus are quite severe in the tech industry too. It may seem a little confusing right now but read on till the end and you’ll understand how the virus has spread throughout the tech industry.

Google I/O was Cancelled

Google’s biggest event, the I/O developer has been scrapped due to the outbreak of Coronavirus. It was officially announced last night on the official 2020 I/O website.

According to Google the decision to cancel I/O 2020 was taken “due to concerns around Coronavirus (COVID-19), and in accordance with health guidance from the CDC, WHO and other health authorities.”

By the way, google typically uses the I/O platform to introduce new changes to Android, Google-powered Hardware and updates to various Google related services. So, chances are that Android 11’s release might be pushed a little further too.

The Big Players Will not be attending MWC this year

Alongside I/O, Mobile World Conference (MWC) too has been cancelled. The event had most big players pulling out of the event last month and thus was cancelled. VIVO Apex was set to be announced in MWC, LG, Intel, Sony, Amazon and many more had their plans to introduce a lot of new stuffs. But they pulled out at the last moment due to the large outbreak of the pandemic.

Besides MWC, Facebook’s F8 Developer Conference and the Game Developers Conference have been abandoned as well.

Productions have Gone Down and Prices will be going up Soon

A lot of smartphone brands have their production units scattered all over China. Wuhan too houses a lot of these production sectors, which have all been shut down due to the outbreak.

Many of the iPhone industry is located within China’s premises. Besides that, Asus ROG Phone II is already running low in production due to the epidemic.

In particular, the display industry seems to be in quite a turmoil right now. The world’s largest LCD manufacturer, BOE technology has its largest industry in Wuhan. It’s responsible for 17% of Global LCD production and well, it’s being hit hard by the virus. This may cause a slow rise in the price of LCD production per panel. Which could inevitably lead to the rise in costs of displays in phones and TV’s as well.

Now then, What Revolutions has the Virus Brought in China?

Just because the virus is spreading doesn’t mean that the lives of people will stop. China has brought up measures to counter the repercussion of the virus. Schools in China have been suspended but classes are still running online through WeChat.

Food delivery services have adapted to a more touchless approach and even gyms have adopted to provide classes online through apps like TikTok. Movie screenings have been postponed and are coming straight to streaming services. Furthermore, even Real States have moved to using technological aspects like 3D, VR and live steaming to give a view of the house.

There have a lot of improvements to the market which I guess cannot be summed in this article alone. So, do feel free to browse around and if you do find some interesting news, do let us know in the comments down below.