The coronavirus originating in China would begin to be quite controlled, but we are still far from returning to normality. Although infections continue to occur, it seems that the number of new cases is remitting. But the effects go beyond people infected and deceased by this pathology, it is affecting the world economy. It also affects motherboard and graphics card manufacturers.
The biggest problem is that China is practically paralyzed, and factories like Foxconn's are closed. Nintendo doesn't know if it will be able to replenish its Switch stock. Microsoft and Sony may be forced to delay the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 , respectively. Now the problem extends to the demand for certain components.
[amazon box="B07HS7C8B8"]China hardware sales plummet due to coronavirus
Currently most ports and airports are closed or with limited activity. There are several cities in China that are isolated or quarantined by the coronavirus. The authorities have prevented large crowds and several very important sporting events that were to be held in China have been suspended.
All of this is causing hardware sales to plummet. According to the specialized media DigiTimes, manufacturers ASUS and Gigabyte, among others, foresee a significant reduction in shipments. They expect a sharp drop in sales for this first quarter due to illness.
It should be noted that China is currently the largest hardware market in the world, with the largest increase in video game fans. We are talking about a brutal market of 1.300 billion people. Even in some areas there is a curfew to avoid new infections.
Not surprisingly, if motherboard sales fall, sales of graphics cards, SSDs, processors and graphics cards fall. This affects Intel and especially AMD, who sells the most in this market due to the good quality / price ratio of the Ryzen. This could even be good for Intel, to reduce its current stock problem.
But here the really important thing is to stop the contagion by the coronavirus and that nobody else dies from this pathology. Hopefully this problem will soon end and people can return to normal life.
Source: DigiTimes