How Useful Is Big Tech in a Covid Lockdown, Really?

How Useful Is Big Tech in a Covid Lockdown, Really?

International and Arab News

China’s consumer-tech companies are riding an endless train of trouble. Just as the government seems to be easing its regulatory crackdown, consumer fatigue — even disinterest — is setting in.

At an April meeting of the Politburo, the top government policymaking body, Beijing vowed to support the healthy growth of platform companies, a statement interpreted by many analysts as the end of the government’s year-long campaign to rein in big tech across a wide range of issues, from antitrust to data security. Beijing’s crackdown cost tech companies as much as $2 trillion of market value, the equivalent of 11% of China’s gross domestic product, estimates Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

But a potentially bigger threat looms: Citywide lockdowns are forcing consumers to seek alternatives and question how useful Big Tech really is.

For years, e-commerce was the crown jewel of Chinese tech industry, with online shopping accounting for a much bigger share of retail sales than in the US. Companies such as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., JD.com Inc. and Meituan invested heavily to build distribution and logistics networks, going as far as sourcing fresh produce directly from farmers and recruiting armies of migrant workers for speedy deliveries.

The Shanghai lockdown, which started