Opinion: Covid-19 supercharged 2020's tech winners. What about 2021?

Consumers increasingly preferred shopping at home on their phones and computers over going to a physical store and risking infection. — Pixabay

Some of 2020’s biggest technology winners – including Zoom Video Communications Inc, Shopify Inc and Nvidia Corp – have delighted shareholders with gains ranging from 100% to 400%. And they have a common thread: Besides being top performers, these companies are all market leaders that benefitted from trends that were supercharged by the pandemic. Whether it was the shift to remote work, the move to cloud-computing software, the rise of video-gaming or the surge in e-commerce sales, these companies were at the right place at the right time to profit.

With the year drawing to a close, the critical question is which of these trends will stick or falter over the next 12 months. The answer will also determine which technology names are best positioned to be victors in 2021. To figure it out, here’s a case-by-case review.