The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Profitability Performance of Leading ICT Enterprises

Abstract

The common conclusion presented in a large number of scientific publications is that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a substantial negative impact on human health and businesses. The main aim of this article is to present the results of research on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on leading ICT enterprises’ financial performance. The research covered the three leading ICT enterprises: International Business Machines (IBM), Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (Samsung) and Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon). The research covered the 15-year period from 2007 to 2021, which included the pandemic period of 2020–2021. This allowed for the evaluation of the dynamic rate of change over time and more precise comparison of the changes in the financial performance indicators during the pandemic period. The main conclusions are that despite significant restrictions, lockdowns and many infections, the COVID-19 pandemic has had no significant impact on the financial performance of the enterprises studied in the research. The research provides new knowledge about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on leading companies in the ICT industry. Further research on the impact of this pandemic may reveal details about more factors that influenced the business activities in other sectors of the economy.