Coronavirus pandemic | Here’s how Realme, OnePlus, Xiaomi, Vivo & Oppo are help consumers

From extending warranties to donating masks, smartphone makers are doing their bid during this COVID-19 crisis

Carlsen Martin

March 27, 2020 / 06:25 PM IST

The novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, pandemic has had far-reaching effects on industries around. The smartphone industry has seen a significant decline in global shipments, shutdown of manufacturing plants and the cancellation or delay of big product launches.

However, major Chinese smartphone manufacturers aren’t sitting on the sidelines, waiting the storm out. Companies like Huawei, Xiaomi, Realme and others have resorted to online only launch events. Several companies, including Xiaomi and Vivo, are donating N95 masks for doctors and healthcare personnel on the front lines of this pandemic.

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Now, companies are going the extra mile to provide customer service support for consumers at a time when most of the world is facing a lockdown. Xiaomi is providing email, chat and social media support to aid customers that have issues with their devices. OnePlus and Realme recently committed to an extension of warranties on their products.

Realme India has extended the warranty on all its products expiring between March 20 and April 30. Those products whose warranty expires during this period will receive an extension till May 31. Moreover, the replacement period of devices has also been extended by 30 days for those customers who have purchased or will purchase Realme devices from March 15 till April 30.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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