Many companies have been surprised by this year’s change in spending choices. After staying mainly at home for two years, Americans who are enthusiastic about traveling and parties eat plane tickets and fashionable clothes, ignoring the patio furniture and soft trousers we studded in 2020.
Household appliances may be the fiery center of American flip-flop shopping habits. Gadget purchases suddenly switched from hot to non-hot. This change is likely to cause pain and confusion for many companies and can be a big deal for anyone who wants to buy electronics.
In the early days of the pandemic, many of us were eager to buy internet routers, laptops, video game consoles, and other high-tech equipment to stay productive and comfortable at home. Could not find some products. However, experts warned that it would inevitably pull back the purchase of certain gadgets until people needed it again.
The magnitude of the change after purchasing a gadget for two years has surprised many. From January to May, the only retail categories with sales declines compared to the same five months in 2021 of the Ministry of Commerce are appliances and electronics stores. Disclosure last week. Best Buy said last month that purchases, especially at computer and home entertainment stores, have fallen across the board. Well you may stay. And research firm IDC is looking forward to it Global smartphone sales This year, it will decline the most sharply in China.
Bad things for electronics makers and stores may be good for us, but value hunters need to be careful. Nathan Burrow, who writes about shopping for Wirecutter, a product recommendation service for The New York Times, told me that prices for some devices have already been discounted. However, selling when inflation is the highest in 40 years in the United States is not always a good deal. Discounted products could still be more expensive than similar models a few years ago, Barrow said.
Whiplash of shopping habits is too much for Wal-Mart, Target, Gap, and some other retail chains Wrong type of product.. This also applies to some types of electronic devices. This means that summer shopping “Holiday” from Amazon, Target, Best Buy and Walmart can significantly reduce prices.
Burrow predicts significant price cuts on some laptops, including tablets, internet networking equipment, Amazon devices, and Chromebooks.
Research firm NPD Group is selling home appliances this year Probably decline Again in 2022, 2023 and 2024 — but electronic device sales over the last two years will remain higher than in 2019. Although overall sales have increased, this phenomenon of electrical device sales unexpectedly passing through the roof and suddenly sinking disorients gadget manufacturers and sellers.
“It’s unpredictable to make everything worse,” said Jitesh Ubrani, IDC’s research manager.
Making long-term forecasts is difficult for electronics manufacturers, retailers, and buyers. Some executives say global shipments and availability of critical components such as computer chips may never be normal in 2019. Some electronics, such as ultra-low-priced TVs and laptops, can go forever as manufacturers and retailers are obsessed with higher profits from more expensive products.
In the electronics industry, experts talked about how to do things in different ways to prepare for a future crisis, such as expanding gadget manufacturing to countries other than China. It is not clear how our spending will change again in response to government efforts to cool inflation, rising prices and potential recessions.
For some time, people in developed countries have become accustomed to the stable flow of cheap and abundant electronics, furniture, clothing and other commodities, thanks to their interconnected global factories and transportation. Due to the pandemics and quirks that have occurred in the supply chain, some economists and executives have rethought the status quo.
The ups and downs of electrical device sales after 2020 may be resolved within a few years. Alternatively, appliances are a microcosm of a pandemic-changed world that may never be the same.
Before going …
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Microsoft will remove from facial recognition technology the ability to claim to identify a person’s age, gender, and emotional state. My colleague Kashmir Hill reported that this decision was part of a broader effort in the company and other technology industries to use artificial intelligence software more responsibly.
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The countryside of California is separated by drones with Amazon parcel delivery. “I don’t want the drone to fly around my house — we live in the countryside,” said a resident in Lockeford, California. Said The Washington Post. (A subscription may be required.)
Related from Last Week’s OnTech: Where is the drone?
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Isn’t Google Search older? Atlantic appear A broken piece of truth, including ruthless commercialization, behind the feeling that web search is becoming less useful. ((((You may need a subscription. )
Embrace this
I need to read my colleague Sarah Rial’s article about wasabi, a semi-retired champion Pekingese, who does nothing but fetch, run fast, and enjoy life.
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