Covid 19 has shifted living style, leading the highest lockdown lunacy index for 320% since the beginning of pandemic. Technology stock markets have been performing at its highest in August 2021. However, it does not stay forever. Recently, digital platforms mostly used during pandemic like streaming services, e-commerce, and video conference hits the lowest. Zoom for instance, the most used video conferencing throughout the pandemic has decreased for more than 80%. This exceeds the percentage of drop in Nasdaq for as much as 18%. Now Zoom and others trade below pre-pandemic prices.
Moreover, the future outlook is really uncertain. Pandemic, war, inflation, as well as the rise of interest rates have been challenging the global economy. In addition, there is no proof that productivity performs well during both digitalization and remote work. However, it does not mean that there is no future at all for the most used digital tools during a pandemic. Although they are now underperforming, digitalization always continues.
Based on The Economist prediction, the most successful tech firms in the future would not be the flashy consumer-tech firms. However, the most successful would be tech firms enabling technology infrastructure shift. Decline of lockdowns also impact most tech businesses. Earlier on August 22nd, Zoom announced that the company’s annual revenue growth had sunk to 8%. This rate was the lowest since the company joined the listing in 2019.
Following this report, Peloton also encountered an almost 30% decline on its quarterly sales, in comparison with a year ago. Netflix and Disney+ also suffered the loss of subscribers. Robinhood, moreover, has cut a few headcounts to battle with market sentiments. Basically the decrease of work-from-home has majorly affected demand in technology sectors. It follows the decline of technology equipment shipments that falls by 10% this year.
