As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to spread, global systemic disruptions on our society have also been rising.
Global indexes are falling to never-before-seen levels. Citizens are emptying shelves from stores out of panic. Major tech events such as E3 2020, MWC 2020 have been cancelled. And there are even talks about the acceleration of the next economic recession due to the pandemic.
However, in all these chaos, certain players in the tech world stand to benefit from Covid-19. In contrast, others will have their businesses severely disrupted.
The Winners
With many countries imposing movement controls and locking down cities, able companies will now have to implement work-from-home policies for its employees. Companies like Slack, Zoom, Google’s G-Suite and Microsoft’s Office 365 will start seeing an increase in subscribers as firms start shifting to cloud-based work to minimize business disruptions.
Food delivery companies such as Uber Eats, GrabFood, FoodPanda and tech-based grocery delivery companies will also see an increase in usage. As people are no longer able (or even willing) to eat out or purchase their groceries, they will have to rely on delivery companies.
eCommerce companies like Amazon, Alibaba, and Lazada will also see a boom in business as shoppers will rely more heavily on these platforms to purchase consumer goods.
The Losers
Most, if not all hardware manufacturing tech firms will have its supply chain networks linked to China in one way or another. With factories being shut down in China due to the outbreak, there will be an evident disruption to that chain.
Companies that manufacturer smartphones, laptops, TVs, household appliances, pretty much anything that has some tech in it may see a reduction in manufacturing output.
As a result, prices for these goods may increase as the companies need to make up for their losses.
It’s Not the End
Like with any pandemics we’ve had such as Ebola and Swine Flu (H1N1), these are all temporary. Nothing lasts forever, in time, the epidemic will be brought under control and society can resume functioning as usual.
In the meantime, practice social distancing and only go out when you have to. Practice good hygiene by washing your hands and minimize touching your face.