The world is never going to be from issues. Terrorism, cybercrime, assaults and more. Every day, you get to hear one thing or another that’s plaguing the world, and right now the hot topic is Coronavirus (officially known as COVID-19).
The death count is increasing daily and god knows how many people are affected by it. Amid all this chaos is China. The country is the epicenter of the current epidemic and consequently, it is affecting the country adversely. The fact that China plays a huge role in how the world runs, be it economically or politically, cannot be denied and this current outbreak of the virus is really affecting their position.
Be it textiles or food, each and every sector is suffering because of the coronavirus. One such industry that has suffered a serious blow due to this is the tech industry. Stores are shut, factories are being closed down and employees aren’t even allowed to leave their houses. Yes, that’s what the world has come to. People fear that their lives will be in danger if they even step out of their doorsteps.
From Apple to Tesla, most of the world’s leading companies have their offices in China and thus all of them are affected by this chaos. We learned that earlier this month, companies such as Apple, Microsoft, Samsung and more closed their China-based offices. Even though the shutdown of offices was supposed to last only for a short while, many have not specified when exactly will their offices reopen.
Some companies may have resumed their working, however, they are reluctant to say when their factories will get back to full speed. Even Foxconn, the company that makes most of the world’s iPhones sent a notice to their employees informing (more like a warning) them to stay away from their Shenzen headquarters. China itself may not be willing to tell the whole truth regarding the damage the coronavirus has caused, however, its impact in the tech industry clearly showcases the reality.
What this means is that you’ll probably face shortages of not only iPhones but also of cars, VR headsets, and other tech gadgets. Moreover, even Facebook has come out publicly to inform that they won’t be taking any further orders for their latest Oculus VR headset. As for the reason, that the tech giants gave, was that their hardware productions had been severely affected due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Just when the world was finally making headways into accepting e-sports as an actual sporting event, the coronavirus flushed it all down the drain. The Overwatch League matches and PUBG global qualifiers, all have been postponed until further notice. These gaming events could have catapulted current gaming scenario to god knows what level, however, that’s down the drain. Even the niche market of gaming mobiles are suffering. Asus has already sent out a sort of an open letter to all of its fans and customers informing that the ROG Phone II won’t be available until further notice.
If you’re waiting for your new Tesla Model 3 to arrive then there is some bad news for you and it’s the courtesy of coronavirus. Yes, Tesla has also cited the same reason for the expected delay in deliveries of the Model 3’s.
However, it was supposed to open its Shanghai-based factories from 10th February, still, the delivery will be delayed by almost two weeks.
A much more recent that shook up the world due to this outbreak was of companies pulling out from the Mobile World Congress (MWC). Giants such as Sony, Amazon, Nokia and more had expressed their concern regarding the potential risk of the virus and thereby pulled out of the event. With major companies all set not to attend the conference, the event was obviously canceled. The event that has been a mainstay since 2006 and is, in fact, a multi-million dollar event won’t be happening this time. Moreover, the event was not even going to be held in China. Thus one can clearly see the effect China and coronavirus are having in the current tech world.
Having said that, it is certainly a right move from the tech giants to shutdown their working amidst this outbreak. After all, people’s lives matter much more than a tech product or event. Moreover, the World Health Organization has the status of coronavirus as that of a global health emergency. Thus, it is up to the tech companies, situated in China or elsewhere, to care about this situation. They have to make sure that it doesn’t spread among their employees.
While the production and manufacturing of technological products might have been halted due to this unique coronavirus, technology is inturn also being used to help fight the war against this virus. Researchers worldwide are using all the tech at their disposal to come up with the vaccines that might cure the disease. Moreover, authorities in Wuhan are reportedly using drones to monitor people who are under quarantine and also alert them. Similarly, Bluedot, a Canada based company is using AI technology to detect the early signs of the virus. Furthermore, they are also using a similar AI tech to predict where the virus will pop up next.
All in all, this outbreak of coronavirus has affected the tech world both positively and negatively. On hand due to the shutdown of companies in the most part of China, the manufacturing of major smartphones including iPhones and Samsung has taken a hit. On the other hand, this is also bringing the rest of the tech community together to collectively fight against this novel virus.
The effect of this virus until now has been damaging, however, I do hope that this will be contained soon and the world can return to its normal routine once again.