As people rush to set up home offices, sales of monitors have nearly doubled.
According to the PC channel, demand is surging for virtual office components such as laptops, network peripherals, and hardware components and it looks like many might bounce back from their poor first-quarter sales.
The number of IT monitors bought during the week ending 14th March almost doubled compared to the week before, according to GfK. Purchases of keyboards also shot up during that same week, giving a year-on-year growth of 68.8 per cent in value, while an increase in sales of pointing devices, such as mice and stylus pens, resulted in growth of 29.7 percent compared to this time last year.
Not far behind was the surge in demand for communication devices, with routers and docking stations – their value growth was 29.4 percent.
Australian electronics retailer JB Hi-Fi said that its total sales growth for 1 January through to the 22 March amounted to 9.1 percent, up 8.8 percent, while demand for “essential products they [customers] need to respond to and prepare” for the coronavirus outbreak were also up, from remote working accessories to home appliances.
Laptop demand has also risen sharply over the past month, both in response to a greater demand for remote working, but also as companies stockpile in anticipation of a shortage. One Italian supplier said its sales were 20 times higher than normal, according to the Financial Times.
