How Coronavirus Has Hurt the Tech Industry
Fear has set in around the world as the COVID-19 coronavirus spreads. While the public is busy preparing for the worst, though, the tech industry is already living it. Multiple tech conferences have been cancelled or postponed, including MWC, CP+ 2020, GDC, F8, and Google I/O. And thanks to production shutdowns in China, many companies are going to take major financial losses before everything is said and done.
According to TrendForce, a Chinese market research company, production numbers for the first quarter of 2020 are expected to be hit hard in the television (-4.5 percent), video game console (-10.1 percent), smartphone (-10.4 percent), smart speaker (-12.1 percent), notebook (-12.3 percent), and smartwatch (-16 percent) sectors. The longer production facilities remain closed or operate in a reduced capacity, the more tech companies will continue to lose.
It was reported at the end of January that production delays would lead to a shortage in LCD panels for TVs and PCs. And Apple has been dealing with an iPhone shortage since the middle of February, which has led to a projected $63- to $67-billion loss in sales. Contributing to video game industry losses, Nvidia is expected to take a $100 million hit thanks to the coronavirus: The outbreak has had a negative impact on the demand for graphics cards and disrupted the supply chain.
But it’s not all bad news. Samsung will avoid the worst effects of COVID-19 now that the company has moved production out of China. And Foxconn, Apple’s manufacturing partner on the iPhone, is expected to resume full production at the end of March.
