Will I Get My New Computer for Christmas?

Most of the world has been in some form of lockdown since March. Our world continues to operate in a different way than pre covid19 days, with restrictions on what we can do, where we can go etc.

The impact of the availability of electronic goods has been very severe. In this article, I want to discuss the shortage of laptops and tablets.

New Computer for Christmas | Greenlight Computers

What’s the stock of computers like?

In August three of the biggest computer companies in the world, Lenovo, HP and Dell, announced that they have a shortage of nearly 5 million laptops.

The view is that the backlog will not be resolved until at least 2021.

This has been caused not only by the coronavirus shutdowns which have affected product and component manufacturing but also due to sanctions being applied to China by the USA. Click here for more information.

KPMG said that “More than 90% of the Fortune 10001, including many technology companies, have already suffered supply chain disruption”.

Demand for computers grows

The demand for computers in Q3 2020 (July – Sept) was the highest for five years.

The EMEA market place saw the strongest growth in demand since 1998;

Demand has been driven by the tremendous increase in home working, where many businesses needed to buy their staff equipment to enable them to work from home.

Demand has also outstripped supply as schools seek to kit all of their pupils with mobile computers to help them should they need to work from home.

Manufacturers are beginning to get back on their feet and are beginning to ship computers again.

However not everyone is convinced that the shortages are coming to an end, the shortage of electronics components continues to be a cause for concern;

Can they get the computers over to us – fewer flights means fewer shipments.

There are fewer flights at the moment and that means less freight is being shipped. FedEx. As with many logistics companies, has fewer flights onto which it can put freight. It’s not only dedicated shipping flights, but a lot of freight is also usually carried on passenger flights, and with so few passenger planes flying that puts another constriction of the availability of flights onto which your computer could be shipped. More info here.

How PPE is affecting supply

I guess that we would all agree that having PPE available to those who need it and when they need it is crucial. Obviously, there has been a massive surge in demand for PPE. Many logistics arrangements now give priority to PPE shipments, so it could be that your delivery of computers gets put back in the queue at the docks/airport to allow that vital PPE shipment to go through first.

How might all of this affect me?

We have again started to notice stock shortages from our key suppliers. Deliveries of new stock show dates pushed out at times until March 2021. This means that if you need a new laptop or computer, there could be a potential delay in obtaining these new products.

What can I do?

Plan ahead, if you have been thinking about buying a new computer for Christmas. Think about doing so sooner rather than later before more lockdowns are introduced and whatever remaining stocks of laptops are left get panic bought and the shelves are empty.

If you need help

If you want help with any of the matters raised in this article please contact us at Greenlight Computers – we have a team you can chat to about all matters relating to IT. We can help you get that computer you need.

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