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March 28, 2024

The change in our spending choices this year caught many companies off guard. After spending most of their time at home, Americans eager to travel and party are swooping in on airfare and fancier clothing — ignoring the patio furniture and floppy pants we’ve splurged on in 2020.

Consumer electronics may be at the center of Americans’ changing shopping habits. Gadget buying has suddenly gone from hot to lukewarm, a change that is likely to cause pain and confusion for many companies — and there could be some great deals for those who still want to buy electronics.

In the early months of the pandemic, many of us were so eager to buy internet routers, laptops, video game consoles, and other tech gear to keep us productive and comfortable at home that certain products couldn’t be found. However, experts warn that people will inevitably stop buying certain types of gadgets until they need them again.

After two years of buying the gadget, the magnitude of the change surprised many.From January to May, electronics and appliance stores were the only retail category to experience a decline in sales compared with the same period in 2021, the Commerce Department said. disclose last week. Best Buy said last month that purchases at its stores were down across the board, especially for computers and home entertainment products. may stay. Research firm IDC expects Global smartphone sales The biggest drop this year was in China.

What’s bad for electronics manufacturers and stores can be good for us, but value seekers need to be careful. Nathan Burrow, who writes about shopping deals for The New York Times’ product recommendation service Wirecutter, told me that some electronics are already discounted. But selling when US inflation is at a 40-year high may not always be a good deal. Prices on discounted products are likely to still be higher than similar models from a few years ago, Burrow said.

The shuffling of shopping habits has left Walmart, Target, Gap and some other retail chains in too many troubles. wrong product categoryThe same goes for certain types of electronics, which means there could be more price cuts during the summer shopping “holidays” at Amazon, Target, Best Buy and Walmart.

Burrow predicts significant price cuts for tablets, internet networking gear, Amazon devices and some laptops, including Chromebooks.

Research firm NPD Group said this year that consumer electronics sales will most likely to drop 2022, 2023 and 2024 — but the first two crazy years of electronics sales will still lead to higher overall sales than 2019. Despite higher overall sales, this phenomenon of electronics sales unexpectedly rising and then suddenly falling is disorienting gadget makers and sellers.

“It’s unpredictability that makes everything worse,” said Jitesh Ubrani, research manager at IDC.

Making long-term forecasts is difficult for manufacturers, retailers and buyers of electronics. Global shipping and supplies of basic components such as computer chips may never be normal in 2019, some executives said. As manufacturers and retailers become addicted to higher profits on pricier products, select electronics like ultra-cheap TVs and laptops may be gone for good.

In the electronics industry, experts tell me there has been discussion about how to do things differently to prepare for potential crises in the future, including moving more gadget manufacturing to countries other than China. It’s unclear how our spending might shift again in response to inflation, government efforts to cushion rising prices, or a potential recession.

For a while, people in rich countries grew accustomed to a steady stream of cheap and plentiful electronics, furniture, clothes and other goods, thanks to the interconnected world of factories and shipping. The pandemic and the odd behavior it has caused in supply chains has some economists and executives rethinking the status quo.

The ups and downs of electronics sales since 2020 may be resolved within a few years. Or maybe consumer electronics is the epitome of a world transformed by the pandemic that may never be quite the same again.

  • Microsoft will remove features from its facial recognition technology that claim to identify a person’s age, gender and emotional state. My colleague Kashmir Hill reports that the decision is part of a broader effort by companies and the rest of the tech industry to use AI software more responsibly.

  • A rural town in California is divided by drones in Amazon package delivery: “I don’t want drones flying around my house – we live in the country,” said a Rockford, California resident. Tell Washington post. (Subscription may be required.)

    Relevant material from On Tech last week: Where are the delivery drones?

  • Isn’t Google Search what it used to be? atlantic organization looks The truth behind the feeling that web searches are becoming increasingly useless — including relentless commercialization. (Subscription may be required. )

You have to read my colleague Sarah Lyle about the mustard, the semi-retired champion Beijinger who doesn’t play catch, run fast, or do anything other than enjoy life.


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