Here's what Europeans are buying amid the COVID-19 lockdown – aside from heaps of pasta and toilet paper
- Reference: 1585816269
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/04/02/european_coronavirus_tech_buying/
- Source link:
The UK government has followed policies enacted in Italy, Spain and France by [1]locking down citizens to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus, while remote working in other regions of the continent has picked up speed.
Context, which tracks shipment data for the region, logged a marked rise in demand for certain kit including PCs and audio-visual (AV) hardware for the eight weeks to 15 March compared to the same time frame a year earlier.
Among the biggest sellers in Europe were headsets, headphones and microphones useful for people jumping onto conferences calls – growing 57 per cent year-on-year.
In some countries, demand for AV systems sent shipments soaring by triple digits, with unit sales in Italy – which has seen the highest number of deaths from COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus – up 292 per cent. Sales in Portugal went up 252 per cent, 163 per cent in Finland, 144 per cent in Austria, 135 per cent in Switzerland, and 125 per cent in Germany.
Supply, demand and a scary mountain of debt: The challenges facing IT as COVID-19 grips the global economy [2]READ MORE
In the smart home subsets of smart security, access control and assisted living, sales bounced 85 per cent across Europe, with France and Spain reporting the biggest lifts.
Notebooks are obviously in high demand, as our [3]article revealed weeks ago , but according to Context data, desktop computers have also seen a decent rise in sales via distributors in the eight-week period, growing 22 per cent, with desktop workstations rising 16 per cent.
"IT channel businesses have met a growing demand for products enabling home and remote working as employees were put on lockdown across much of Europe over the past two months," said Howard Davies, Context CEO.
"We can see how quickly the situation is changing in each country."
Other areas doing well in the current climate include telephony and conference systems, up 17 per cent in Europe, as UPS climbed 15 per cent and solid-state drives grew 15 per cent. ®
[1] https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/03/23/uk_coronavirus_lockdown_measures/
[2] https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/03/16/supply_demand_debt_covid19/
[3] https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/03/20/home_working_laptops_monitors_wlans_selling_fast/
Re: Webcams?
Ditto. Thought I'd upgrade my existing crappy webcam as it'll now be getting a lot of use.
My two usual suppliers (Overclockers, Scan) are out of anything under about £250. In desperation I took to Amazon, and the story's the same there.
Existing crappy webcam it is then...
Lost post
Well we have had it with RM the amount of stuff lost recently beggars belief. (Not late but actually lost).
As an example a largish box full of lamps gone, just vanished.
Disappeared from their system, originally card through the door with no knock, organised redelivery, no delivery, 2 weeks later call them no record.
Need to insist on using a reputable carrier I suppose.
Popping down later to pick up another cocked up delivery rather than risk losing yet another item.
I do not mind slower and late delivery at all, but losing it WTF.
Re: Lost post
Perhaps the Royal Mail was just trying to delight it's customers.
Re: Lost post
Well I hope that they are all now suitably enlightened.
Re: Lost post
So confused for a bit, I was thinking "Do RM (Research Machines) sell lamps now? Wow."
Re: Lost post
Maybe all the lamps are needed at NHS Nightingale?
Re: Lost post
OTOH they're the most reliable here. I've had all manner of problems with other carriers who seem to either lose stuff in their systems, deliver to the wrong house or simply not see a house name carved in 6" high letters on a block of stone. Under normal circumstances I prefer to get Amazon stuff delivered to a locker. Vendors' systems that can't cope with a house not having a number are another problem.
The posties, however, know us, would be able to deal with a misaddressed parcel and also know enough to link us and our daughter who lives a mile away and have been known to leave her parcels with us when they didn't have anywhere handy to leave it there. It's the sort of thing that happens out in the country!
Thermometers too
When the self-isolating rules first came out I realised I had no way of knowing if my temperature was 37.5°C or whatever the level was. A quick check online confirmed I wasn't the only person.
Fortunately I then remembered my multi-meter has a temperature probe...
Webcams?
I was looking for a webcam (for my boss who is the sociable one of the two of us) and it looked like all the ones I would normally go for were out of stock.