Tech Talks on Coronavirus impact: How smartphone industry has been hit and what you should do

Coronavirus impact: The smartphone industry has been hit hard by the Coronavirus outbreak with several key tech events been cancelled across the globe. Mobile World Congress 2020 was the first of many to face the impact of this extremely contagious virus. The biggest tech show, scheduled to be held in Spain last month, was called off due to the Coronavirus. The event is used by all major smartphone and electronics brands to showcase their new products and tech. The factory shutdowns in Coronavirus-hit China also affected the finished products as well as component supplies.

"The Coronavirus outbreak impacted the Lunar New Year’s shopping season in late January and is also expected to have adverse effects in the following months,” IDC said in a statement, adding that it expects “China’s smartphone shipments to drop more than 30% year-on-year in 2020Q1.”

In India, the initial impact was seen when Asus announced that there will be a shortage of ROG Phone II units in the country due to the outbreak. Soon after, Xiaomi increased the price of Redmi Note 8 by Rs 500 before cancelling the on-ground event for the Redmi Note 9 series in Delhi. Its rival Realme too cancelled the on-ground event for Realme 6 series. In this week's Tech Talks episode on Zee Business, we sat down to discuss how smartphone industry has been hit and what you should do.

WATCH Tech Talks episode 6 on Facebook here -

The best way to avoid the spread of coronavirus includes staying educated on the virus. At the same time, you should keep your smartphones, laptops and gadgets clean. 

WATCH Tech Talks episode 6 on YouTube here -

Here are few tips that will help you -

- Keep your smartphone and handkerchief in different pockets.

- Avoid using public computers.

- If your smartphone is water resistant, clean it in regular intervals.

- Wash your hands with soap and water after cleaning your phone or laptop

Due to the impact on supply chains either the prices of gadgets can go up or you may not get best offers in the coming weeks. Most of the big brands including Apple, Samsung, OnePlus, Oppo, Vivo, Realme and Xiaomi, among others can face the impact. Most of them depend on China for components such as battery, display and printed circuit boards.