Coronavirus News Shared By HDRA

Irvine, CA based Hard Drive Recovery Associates (HDRA) recently published a blog post that covers the effect that the coronavirus, now formally known as COVID-19, has had on the tech industry since the beginning of the pandemic. Accessible through their website, the company hopes that the post will help readers understand how the tech industry has changed and where it may go in the coming months.

As the post states, “The coronavirus has been greatly affecting all areas of global society, the tech sector included. Some of the world’s biggest companies have closed stores, offices and factories in China, with their employees being restricted from nonessential travel. The closure of stores throughout the country coincided with the Lunar New Year, a time when businesses close shop for everyone to observe the holidays. But then, the closures were extended until February 10. However, there are some provinces in the country that have advised companies to further delay their openings until March 1.”

Published mid February, the post offers some insight into the early days of the pandemic and the initial repercussions that tech companies faced due to the shutdown of commerce in China, particularly where manufacturing and export was concerned. Given that much of the world’s technological products are manufactured to one extent or another in this region, the loss of such a huge percentage of their supply chain effectively put many international companies’ operations on hold as they waited for orders for parts and goods to be filled and shipped.

The short-term effects of this are immediate, as the post notes. Many events, such as product launches, were postponed until further notice while the country carried out its quarantine measures in an attempt to halt the spread of the virus.

While China first reported several cases of an unusual pneumonia to the World Health Organization at the end of December 2019, the true dangers of the virus remained unknown at the time. The first cases were reported in Wuhan, a port city that had a population of 11 million people in the central Hubei province. As the infection began to take hold in greater numbers, the first case reported outside China was a woman who had traveled to Thailand from Wuhan. The next international case was reported in Japan, who was also a man who had traveled from Wuhan. By early February, multiple countries had reported cases of the same virus within their borders.

Hard Drive Recovery Associates' post continues, “Not just has the coronavirus stopped employees of the tech industry to cancel travel itineraries to China, Hongkong and Macao, but travel plans to other parts of the world have also slowed down. LG, Facebook, Apple and Amazon are just some of the companies that have stopped employees from traveling to China and telling those who are based in China to work from home instead.” By mid February, China’s production had ground to a halt and all efforts were being spent on containing the virus. It was estimated that this shutdown would continue into early March.

According to an article on Marketplace, however, the shutdown actually persisted until the end of March, with April being the earliest period that saw a gradual restart of China’s major industrial output. “Nearly all of China’s major industrial companies have reportedly resumed production — Chinese officials put the number at over 95% of large enterprises, including in the hard-hit province of Hubei — after much of the country’s economy shut down to contain the COVID-19 virus. But back to work doesn’t mean back to normal.”

The article continues, “Chinese officials say major enterprises in the country’s main industrial belt — the provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Guangdong — are basically fully open, but a quarter of small-and-medium-sized businesses in China are still shut down.” Notably, certain travel restrictions still apply, which means that many employees remain unable to travel for work, especially if they have to contend with the mandatory 14-day quarantine.

HDRA’s audience is encouraged to visit their website and read the blog post in full to gain an idea of how COVID-19 initially affected the tech industry, and the company advises these readers to also contrast the tech industry’s prior predictions with the actual events that have since occured. By doing so, the company hopes that readers will be able to understand the possible effects the virus may have on the tech industry and the global economy in the future.

Further inquiries may be directed to Jack Edwards of Hard Drive Recovery Associates. The company can also be reached through their social media platforms.