Coronavirus is a life-threating virus that started spreading from the city of Wuhan in China. Apart from being a home for the virus, the Asian country is also home for factories of most tech giants. Not only limited to China, but the virus has also started to spread in other countries including Hong Kong, Singapore, Spain and more. The vastly spread virus has led to the cancellation of one of the biggest tech events of the yeat, Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2020. Here's how Coronavirus is impacting the tech industry.
MWC 2020 cancelled
One of the most shocking news caused due to the Coronavirus Outbreak in the Tech industry has to be the MWC 2020 cancellation. Mobile World Congress 2020, which was scheduled to take place in Barcelona, Spain from February 24 to February 27, has now been cancelled. GSMA took such a huge step after tech giants like Nokia, Sony, Amazon, Asus, LG and others started backing out. Not only the companies but also many attendees were afraid of the virus.
Production Shortage
Xiaomi, Apple, Asus and other smartphone brands are also facing the shortage of units. The companies are not able to produce enough products but the demand keeps rising. This is due to the fact that most companies have their production houses in China and they are closed due to the widespread virus. Asus even made a tweet apologising on the delay caused in bringing the ROG Phone 2 back in stock.
Supply chains affected
As the production is getting delayed due to Coronavirus outbreak, the supply chains of these tech giants are also taking the impact. Xiaomi has just announced the price hike for its one of the most popular smartphones, the Redmi Note 8. In its official statement of taking such action, the Chinese tech giant said, "Business is critical but the value of human life is the biggest priority for the company. We are continuing to adopt all measures to ensure the safety of our employees and partners and continue to evaluate the situation in real-time. The extended shutdown in China is likely to have an impact on our Supply chain and, there is a risk of impact on the overall quantum of component supplies. While we are working to explore alternative supply channels for components and raw materials, the immediate impact is that the short supply might cause some negative pressure on prices of these components. This has led to an increase in the price of the product temporarily. We apologise for the inconvenience."
Launches Delayed
Just like the MWC 2020, tech companies are also cancelling or postponing their events to avoid any sort of spreading of viruses. The companies are showing concern towards their employees, media as well as the fans. However, companies that need to launch a particular product are hosting a live stream to showcase their launch portfolio.
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