Hollywood, Tech Industry Lose Billions Amid COVID-19 Scare

The spread of COVID-19, which originated in mainland China, becomes the basis of massive death tolls and is now considered a global crisis. Alas, it's become a major source of the proliferation of fake news as it paints a grim picture of the disease that has spread to major countries like the US and in Europe. Now, both tech and movie industries are feeling the loss that comes with it.

In the world of entertainment, Variety reported that Hollywood and most digital media are feeling the brunt of the impact of COVID-19. Even the tech industry, a big part of which has been outsourced to China, is reeling from the effects of the virus. Citizens living in hard-hit China had been encouraged to just stay at home to prevent a wider outbreak.

China is big business for movie production outfits. Even now, the business of movies in that region has suffered a $2 billion loss in box office grosses. Theaters had been closed since January to prevent further spread of the disease, and that is causing the film industry a hemorrhage in profits.

The tech industry in China is big business too; it isn’t called the “World’s Factory” for nothing. However, due to coronavirus, manufacturers like Foxconn have suspended operations and others have also gone to different countries to outsource. Market researcher TrendForce said that smartphone production in the country will slow down to 12 percent, by modest estimates.

Hollywood isn’t the only branch of entertainment reeling from the effects of the deadly virus. Even theme parks like Disneyland and places like Las Vegas are losing billions to the deadly disease. Disneyland’s annual visitors are fewer due to the fear of catching the virus, Los Angeles Times reported.

About every branch of the entertainment industry where people congregate stands to suffer from the deadly virus. Disney hopes to rely on its streaming service Disney+ to shoulder its losses.