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The Coronavirus’ Effect on the Computers, Hardware & Software Industry, Business and Industry Trends Analysis

The Coronavirus pandemic had a tremendous effect on the computers, software and hardware industry.  Shelter-at-home orders had companies of all sizes scrambling to enable their employees to be effective on a remote basis.  IT departments had to rapidly enable secure, stable remote access to data and tools to enter, analyze, share and use that data.
The Coronavirus compressed what would have been years of digital advancement and adoption into a few months’ time period.  The virus boosted a number of trends that will continue to dominate the industry.  Movement to the cloud will continue to accelerate.  Before the onset of the virus, McKinsey & Company reported that only 20% of most businesses had shifted date from in-house servers to the cloud.  That percentage radically changed and will continue to do so over the near to mid-term.  Another area that will boom is automation technology.  The use of artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics will increase rapidly as businesses look for ways to cut costs and to minimize business disruptions.  This includes automation in warehouses and factories, as well as automation in services, such as call centers.
Demand for hardware such as laptops and printers rose dramatically as workers outfitted home offices.  The same is true for collaboration platforms (such as Zoom and Slack) and security software and tools such as VPN.  Companies are increasing demand for cloud infrastructure services and related software, as well as sophisticated teleconferencing capabilities.  Faster deployment of 5G networks and equipment is also expected.
Both consumers and businesspeople shifted many of their day-to-day habits online.  Use of digital entertainment soared, such as streaming movies on Netflix and Amazon Prime.  Ecommerce soared as well, at a 30%+ growth rate for 2020.
While the Coronavirus sparked tremendous growth in most tech sectors, the post-virus environment of 2023 was quite different.  Many of the sectors soared a couple of years earlier, when businesses and consumers clamored to get everything from new laptops to better cloud computing and faster internet.  By 2023, the industry saw significant drops in demand.  This was so pronounced that Dell, a top computer manufacturer, announced layoffs in February.  Intel, a top semiconductor manufacturer, reported very soft demand, which was true throughout the chip industry.  (This was quite a change from the chip shortages seen during the height of the Coronavirus.)  Cloud computing services, while still growing, were seeing much slower growth patterns.  On the consumer technology services side, ecommerce sales, while still very high, dramatically slowed down in growth in late 2022, as consumers fulfilled significant pent-up demand to enjoy in-person shopping services.  Nonetheless, technology goods and services will remain a strong growth sector over the long-term.


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