For the first time since the U.S. imposed trade sanctions on Huawei, the company has acknowledged that its sales have been affected. Even though the company’s revenue grew by almost 20 percent to nearly US$ 121 billion, it says the numbers could’ve been higher had the sanctions not been imposed.

Last year, Huawei was added on a U.S. blacklist known as the Entity List. It restricted American firms from doing business with the Chinese telecom giant. For the end-user, it meant that Huawei phones won’t have Google apps pre-installed out-of-the-box. Two of its most recent flagships — the Mate 30 and the P40, were released without licensed Google apps.

Eric Xu, Huawei’s rotating chairman, told CNBC that they’re projecting a revenue loss of US$ 10 billion due to the ban. The ban hasn’t come to full effect yet, but it’ll be extremely damaging for their international expansion plans in the future. The company wants to transact with Google, but the U.S. administration has left no choice for either of them.

The ban has not only sealed off the American market for the company, but it also can’t source components and other software technologies from American counterparts. Google is just one of these examples. Huawei can’t even acquire Intel processors for its laptops.

Huawei never had a considerable smartphone market presence in the North American country. This is not a big deal for the company in its home market China because Google apps have been banned there for years now.

As a mitigation plan, the company accelerated the development of its own operating system called Harmony OS, but it’s restricted to TVs for now. To bridge the gap of missing Google apps, the company has also been actively pushing its own suite of apps via Huawei Mobile Services.

Google has committed to donating more than US$ 800 million to support businesses, organizations, and healthcare workers as part of its fight against the Coronavirus pandemic. Breaking it down, it says it’ll give the World Health Organization (WHO) and global government agencies a total of US$ 250 million in ad allowances.

Google CEO, Sundar Pichai, confirmed that another US$ 340 million in ad credits will be provided to small and medium–sized businesses who’ve actively advertised via them over the last year.

Furthermore, the company is establishing a US$ 200 million investment fund to help small businesses get access to capital. Lastly, it’ll be offering US$ 20 million in Google Cloud credits to researchers and academicians to unleash the power of computing on the virus. Research requires an exorbitant amount of computing power since formulas, calculations, and simulation models are supremely complex.

Google may seem like a technology company, but business-wise, it’s the world’s largest advertising company. Everyone who has access to the internet has at some point, used a Google service. This is how the company attracts users via its suite of services and serves them ads. For a behemoth like Google, it’s easy to reach out because of its robust advertising network.

The company not only serves ads on its own services but also exports out ads to other websites via services like AdSense. While it may seem Google isn’t actually giving away money from its profits but from its revenues, it doesn’t matter. The end contribution to the cause is what matters. And the company is leveraging its power to reach out.

These ads can help local authorities across the world fight misinformation about the virus. Moreover, also spread awareness passively while people are indoors in isolation and constantly connected via the internet.

With rising cases of COVID-19 in the country, OPPO is enhancing its in-store measures to protect customers. These in-house measures are necessary as businesses continue their normal operations in Singapore and some parts of the Philippines.

First among the safety measures that are in place is store disinfection. Disinfection will now happen twice a day in all OPPO experience stores.  The disinfection process will focus more on demonstration units, where most customers interact with an OPPO demo device. Plus, the company is now requiring every customer to sanitize their hands before entering a store.

OPPO is also requiring its employees to wear surgical masks when interacting with customers. Plus, employees must submit to health checks before beginning their shifts. If they are feeling unwell, the company will advise them to see a doctor immediately.

On top of that, the company is encouraging everyone to maintain good health and practice proper hygiene.

Such in-house measures are desperately needed especially during these times. Singapore’s COVID-19 cases tally at 500 people. So far, the country has managed to contain the viral transmission. However, the situation is far from over as cases keep increasing each day.

SEE ALSO: How to disinfect your tech from the coronavirus | Coronavirus porn is trending on Pornhub | Here’s where you can donate to the COVID-19 outbreak efforts | 4 ways you can use TikTok to help during the COVID-19 crisis

As general rules, the CDC or The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention listed these to help with preventing the spread of COVID-19:

• Stay home when sick
• Cover coughs and sneezes
• Frequently wash hands with soap and water
• Clean frequently touched surfaces