SARS puts an end to business as usual in Asia

It's not business as usual in some parts of Asia anymore.

The outbreak of SARS - Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome - a potentially deadly disease that is caused by a previously unknown and highly infectious virus, has disrupted the operations of companies in Hong Kong, Singapore and China. And analysts warned that the spread of the disease, if unchecked, could limit the supply of some key electronic components, affecting the availability and pricing of some hardware systems.

SARS first appeared in China's southern Guangdong province, which is home to much of the country's low-cost electronics and IT hardware manufacturing industry, before spreading to other parts of the country as well as to Hong Kong, Singapore and Vietnam. Other Asian countries have also reported SARS cases, albeit in far lower numbers, including Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, and the disease has spread as far as North America, Europe and Australia.

South Korea and Japan, which rank with Taiwan, Singapore and China as important hardware manufacturing centers, have so far not reported any cases of SARS.

"At a minimum, the SARS epidemic will cause schedule slippages and disrupt the aggressive growth plans that global electronics companies have for the affected geographies," Aberdeen Group analysts Russ Craig and Peter Kastner wrote in a report. "Worst case, it could result in major supply chain disruptions and another downdraft for an already challenged industry."

The United Nation's World Heath Organization (WHO) put the total number of worldwide SARS cases at 1,804, with 62 deaths, on April 1. Over the previous day, the number of cases had climbed by 182, with four deaths, it said. Hong Kong has shown the greatest increase in SARS cases, with 155 new cases reported, and three deaths, between March 31 and April 1. The fourth death reported during the same period occurred in Singapore, WHO said.

China has the largest reported number of SARS cases with 806 people diagnosed with the disease and 34 deaths, WHO said. In Hong Kong, which is an important transportation hub for air travel between China and Taiwan, there have been 685 cases of SARS and 16 deaths, it said.

At Intel's Hong Kong office, an employee last weekend began to show symptoms that were considered to be consistent with the SARS virus, said company spokeswoman Josie Taylor. As a precautionary measure, Intel has asked all of its employees that work on the same floor - one of three floors occupied by Intel in a Hong Kong office tower - to work from home this week, extending a similar offer to employees that work on the other floors, she said.

Fears of SARS have caused many companies to cancel travel for executives and postpone meetings, said Dion Wiggins, research director at Gartner Inc. In one instance, Sun indefinitely postponed its SunNetwork 2003 conference, originally scheduled to be held in Shanghai from April 8-9, citing health concerns.

At Intel, employees have been told to avoid nonessential travel and a planned visit to Taipei by Intel CEO Craig Barrett has been cancelled, Taylor said.

The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.