Ripple effect of this pandemic on the future of tech business

You often learn what you want by seeing what you do not want to see, God knows no one wanted to see us conscripted on dealing with our "unexpected" guest, Covid-19, pandemics kill business, recessions ruin business to say they have a silver lining is a step too far. But this unwanted circumstance has afforded businesses, government and consumers time to think about who they are and what they really want and desire from their distinct standpoints, the interesting thing is the interrelatedness and interdependency of these thoughts. Governments have had the inefficiencies of their governance and policies laid bare for all to see, consumers are contemplating if they really need to continue patronizing physical outlets after the pandemic or just stick to the pandemic-made-compulsory online shipping for even the least of their basic needs and thirdly, businesses, its executives and supremo are taking this time to look inward to re-engineer their purpose and goals going forward, some companies have decided to, with reasonable reasons, just hide and lick the wounds inflicted by the pandemic, because believe me when I say nothing knows caution better than regret, while some have decided to be proactive and make best use of the situation.

Quoting Ragu Gurumurthy, the chief innovation and digital officer at Deloitte “a lot of people are telling me they have seen more innovation in the previous two months than in the whole of the whole previous two years”, business are either looking for innovative ways soothe and cushion the hit of the pandemic or predict and analyse the present circumstance for its pros and cons and take advantage of the former. One thing that can be agreed upon without doubt or mooting is that in their analyses and prediction the importance of technology will not be a stranger. Smaller companies who are helpless or hapless or both are more likely to follow the first approach by holding on to the thoughts of expansion and growth for now or submitting to merger and takeover bids from bigger boys, it is rather unfortunate but noteworthy that the imminent future is for the big tech companies and innovative smaller tech companies.

In the space of weeks there have been a peculiar acquisitions and mergers by tech companies, Amazon acquiring Zoox –a self-driving autonomous startup whose valuation was reduced because of effect of COVID-19-, which could help Amazon boost logistics lowering long-term cost. Facebook on its insatiable quest to become the leading company in virtual reality gaming recently marooned its cheapest and least powerful VR headset Oculus Go in favor of more expensive and deluxe offerings like Oculus Quest, just days after acquiring “Ready at Dawn studios” –the developer of the famous “Lone Echo”- which happens to be one of the most successful series of Oculus. Microsoft acquired CyberX in a deal around $195 million this month to take a step further in buffing up its cybersecurity as it pushes for more Internet of things (IoT) solutions. Intel acquired in May Moovit –an Israeli mapping startup- in a $900 million deal to better its services.

The pandemic is changing the nature of customer’s demand to a virtual based one, Calvin McDonald the CEO of Lululemon –a fitness apparel company- announced this week the company's plan to acquire “Mirror” –a home exercise startup- in a $500 million worth deal to meet its customers' high demand for online home workout solution since the pandemic has limited the workout options available to people. Also, as consumers have been chased inside by the virus they have also been chased out of their comfort zones making things that looked less important more important for example insurance products. According to PYMNTS.com newsletter “Lemonade –an insurtech company- betting going public will take advantage of resurgence as the market recovers from COVID-19, it has filed for an Initial Public Offering (IPO)” its selling point being that it has a technology that can make insurance, which is hardly anyone’s favorite product, tempting to consumers.

The future has already been shaped by this pandemic, with government, businesses personnel and especially consumers’ thinking and perspective indelibly affected by it, and note, the illusions of what we think can be stubborner than the illusions of what we see. Even after the pandemic is gone its effects will still linger on a psychological level, some people are bound to be more physically disconnected from the society than they were before the hiatus and the want for technology as a companion is bound to grow still, this effect will transmit to the way and how businesses set up, consumerism and consumer behaviour which is very much likely to remain the same post COVID-19, having recognized this, the tech companies in spite of the harsh period are actively preparing themselves to take advantage of this imminent reality to become pacesetters for the new world, making the future of tech industry, if you are on the right side, exciting.