29/02/2020
HOW ABOUT SOME PCB SOUP...?
Today most people fall in one of two camps: Either the corona virus is believed to be going to kill us all, or it is seen as completely over-hyped.
What most people don't see: Much of the global economy including all of IT depends on the electronics components market and logistics chain. And that market now is completely destroyed. A basic PCB that would cost 10 Euros to produce 4 weeks ago now costs 350 Euro. Tons of basic electronic parts are no longer available. Many of the biggest factories for those are located in China, South Korea and Japan. And most have closed down.
So no, it's not "Oh no, the new IPhone will be a bit delayed". It's "every industry that depends on working supply chains for electronics is FU**ED". (That in turn will cause the stock markets to implode, but that's another subject.)
This is especially bad for industries in the western world. What's still available on the markets is locally sold by brokers in China.
So yeah, most people now run to super market to stock up on Noodles, canned food etc.
We instead are stocking up on DRAM, Server Mainboards, Networking Equipment and other electronics.
And if our prediction should turn out wrong, we'll serve DRAM soup to our employees instead of Noodles. Win-Win.