# Coronavirus and the Tech Industry: The Mecca Minute

By Ben Thomas · Published 2020-02-26 · Updated 2026-07-23 · Software & Technology on MarketScale
Canonical: https://www.marketscale.com/industries/software-and-technology/contributor-coronavirus-tech-industry-mecca-minute

> Today I’d like to talk a little coronavirus and its impact on tech. Tech firms all over the world use international trade events to showcase their products and maybe even in many respects test the market waters to see how products might do in the industry. But this is important to the tech world…

## Key points

- International trade events are critical for tech firms to test market waters and showcase products.
- Many major global trade events are being cancelled or rescheduled due to coronavirus, impacting related industries.
- There is optimism that coronavirus spread will be controlled, which may provide stock buying opportunities.

Today I’d like to talk a little coronavirus and its impact on tech. Tech firms all over the world use international trade events to showcase their products and maybe even in many respects test the market waters to see how products might do in the industry. But this is important to the tech world because travel has now been [restricted](https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/ea/novel-coronavirus-hubei-province--china.html), and many of the biggest opportunities that exist in tech are coming out of Asian countries like China.

We’ve also learned now that major trade events are being [cancelled](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-12/mobile-world-congress-cancelled-due-to-coronavirus-concerns) or rescheduled. This affects attendees, but more importantly it affects the hotels, the airlines, the caterers, and beyond. So if you’re in the international trade event market, then you’re probably seeing a huge impact.

The US has still sort of avoided some of this. I don’t suspect they’ll be any impact on local trade events, or smaller events that involve you traveling one or two counties. However, if you’re into the Gartner International events, the international CIO events, the international mobile technology events or anything in the dev OPS, agile or operations excellence, you’re probably going to find yourself curtailed.

I happen to be one of those folks who is still optimistic that the Coronavirus spread is going to be controlled, and that it won’t stack up to be a long term issue. Hey, at a minimum, buy some tech stock back up and get a good opportunity when the market is down.

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Tags: Cancelled, Coronavirus, events, Gerry Mecca, Mecca Minute, Mobile World Congress, outbreak, Stocks, technology, The Mecca Minute

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