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1. Demand has fallen off a cliff globally - this is far worse for companies than most realise, this has never happened before

2. All companies are facing a cash crunch, gov loans are slow to arrive and they have fixed costs like rent

3. Companies need to conserve cash, turning off ads is a click of a button, and given no demand, it's an obvious choice

This is going to be bad for google and Facebook if it lasts any significant amount of time.



On the other hand, Amazon is going gangbusters. I wonder if covid-19 will ironically prompt a longer term re-alignment away from virtual interaction in favour of real-world connections, as people realize how much they miss real things during lockdown.


I imagine Amazon will do well in some areas (consumers) initially, but overall will see a drop in demand as the crisis really bites - businesses have stopped ordering, and consumers will stop ordering soon to save money. It will be interesting to see how this plays out but I think US markets are far too optimistic at present, and this is going to have a very large impact economically, because it won't be over as soon as say Trump hopes, and premature attempts to reopen will be disastrous.

Strangely enough I think the disease and its impacts will have far less impact on our behaviour than the economic impact of mass layoffs and shuttering the world economy for months. I don't think we've ever seen a drop in consumption of this magnitude and the road back to normality will be slow.




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