The Coronavirus epidemic was started from the Chinese city of Wuhan in the Hubei province, and it has spread over the entire world. There has been over 1.5 lakhs cases and around 6000 deaths because of this virus. In this post, I take a look at the impact of Coronavirus on the tech industry, including its effect on events like MWC 2020 from companies like Intel, LG, Sony, Amazon etc. I also take a look at how Chinese companies take steps to help people and also how they maintain their business at the same time.


The city from where the Corona Virus originated from is Wuhan. Wuhan is a city with a population of over 1.1 crore and it's a major technological hub as well. It's the hub for producing automobiles, electronics, optics and fibre optics. Many companies have their investments in this city. The Corona Virus had a terrible effect  on the city and it also had a huge impact on the tech industry. It has affected everything from the supply chain, in the manufacturing sector to events like MWC 2020. On the other hand, the Chinese tech industry has evolved much faster to deal with epidemic.

Impact on the Manufacturing Sector:

China is world's biggest manufacturing hub in the world and most companies depend on China for manufacturing.
  •  iPhones are made in China, Motorola has a factory in Wuhan and Tesla has one of its biggest factories in Shanghai. So China shut downs most of its factories in Wuhan and sends it's factory workers home to stop the spread of this virus. The factories which make the iPhones may be quiet far away from Wuhan but it is a hub for manufacturing components that are used to make up these smartphones like iPhones. So companies like Apple are expected to hit really hard due to this virus.

  • Even Tesla had to close its factories and delay the deliveries of its new cars because of this. Almost every tech companies has to face supplying and manufacturing because of this Corona Virus and that's a big problem.

  • However, a much bigger problem is faced by the display industries because it doesn't only depend on China, the world's largest LCD manufacturer BOE Technology has its biggest factory in Wuhan. The company produces 17%  of LCDs globally and it is being hit hard due to the Corona Virus. In fact, researches says that LCD panels will become more costly by 1-2 dollars more per panel because of the company's problem in China.

  • Sony, which is one of the major companies for manufacturing smartphone camera sensors has its factory in China as well. They are also facing a lot of problems in their production. Just imagine, a shortage of camera sensors for smartphones. These sensors are being used by every single smartphone brands including Apple, Google and others.

Impact on the Tech Events:

If you are thinking that the manufacturing isn't a big deal, then read this.
MWC, which is the biggest smartphone event is also being affected because of Corona Virus. Companies like LG, Nvidia, Ericsson, Sony, Amazon, Intel, Vivo, TCL and ZTE are no longer attending the MWC 2020 Corona Virus fears. It's really a scary situation. Other companies like Huawei and others are taking precautions and asking their executives to take in a leave from the company. But the thing is major tech companies are cancelling their MWC plans and that's big problem. MWC organizers are also trying to make sure that people remain safe during the event. GSMA, the company behind MWC, is also going to ask people not to shake hands with each other and there will be a large number of medical support at the event itself.

How Chinese Tech Industry Evolved:

The worst hit country is China and one interesting thing I saw while reading about the Corona Virus is how the Chinese Companies have evolved during this period. Let me tell you, it's interesting.
  • Since everyone in China is scared about being exposed to the virus, food delivering companies have started delivering food in a different way. They simply leave the in a specified place and the user can pick it up. It's contactless and reduces the risk of Corona Virus spreading.

  • Schools and gyms are also closed in China but classes are moved online to services like video-conferencing. Even gyms have become virtual and offering fitness classes online. It's really interesting, right?

  • Though there is a virus, people still wanted to get entertained and since they can't go to watch movies, so movie releases are not held in the theatres and coming online to the streaming services like Bytedance's platforms, Tencent Videos and Baidu's platform.

  • Even some companies are using tech like VR and live streaming to let users buy houses without having a visit to house. I also liked this idea and it has to be one of the best ideas of using VR technology.

  • In China, people can get doctor's appointments done online too. Apps like WeChat are allowing users to let a doctor check them for Corona Virus symptoms without going outside their home.

  • Chinese companies are also trying to help to the country control the virus. Alibaba is going to provide free access to all its AI capabilities for development of drugs and vaccines for the virus.

  • Chinese telecom operators and Huawei are going to provide 5g equipments and services to the new the hospital services that China has built in Wuhan. Also Didi, a Cab Company in China is providing free taxi services to the medical staffs.

So, even though Corona Virus is spreading really fast, it's very interesting to see how Chinese Companies are moving quickly to help people around these bad days in their country. The Chinese manufacturing sector is stopped right now but other sectors like food delivery, movies, schools, gyms etc are going on over the internet. This is a scary situation and as far as tech industry is concerned, Coronavirus will cause some delay in product launches and the prices also may go up high. It's a terrible situation and I hope things go back normal soon.




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