As of Thursday, over 75,000 people have been affected by coronavirus and the death toll is now above 2,100. The Chinese government has also quarantined 50+ million people to prevent the virus from spreading.
Among all industries that have been impacted by this ongoing pandemic, the tech industry seems to be benefiting from the outbreak, especially the video games and streaming companies.
According to Tech in Asia, most of China's existing blockbuster gaming titles have seen a surge in play time and in-game purchases since January, which was further fueled by the release of new content by game operators. Tencent's (OTC: TCEHY) Honor of Kings - also known as Arena of Valor in Southeast Asia - has also surpassed 100 million users over the Lunar New Year holiday from the usual 60 to 70 million users.
In comparison to other businesses, the home quarantines enforced by the Chinese government caused growth in screen time to double to that 20% rate from the normal growth rate of 8% to 9% in the preceding months. The raw number of users stayed steady because pretty much everybody in China already has a smartphone.
In addition, Tencent also provides video content, which for Tencent Video posted 32% growth. Competitor iQIYI, run by Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU), saw usage climb 12%. Both long-form streaming services saw usage decline during holiday time last year, indicating that users are now more willing to watch longer video content in 2020 while cooped up at home.
NetEase (NASDAQ: NTES) has also seen big growth in playing time in its flagship titles. It's game Onmyoji, in which players combat demons, saw game time soar 80%. Use of best-seller Fantasy Westward Journey, based on the Chinese classic tale Journey to the West, climbed 45%.
In general, Chinese customers spent 20% more time on their smartphones over the Lunar New Year holidays. The outbreak of coronavirus in fact helped boost this increase and made the streaming and gaming industry profit huge from this pandemic.