Supply Chain Research

A shortage of low-cost laptop computers could hurt U.S. students as remote learning remains in place during the new school year. Acer America’s President, Gregg Prendergast, has stated demand is at “historic levels” and is relying on air freight to meet demand. Panjiva’s analysis shows that only 16.0% of sub-$500 laptops are in-stock at Best Buy while SHI and CDW have just 13.7% and 0.5% in stock respectively. Availability in marketplace type sites is higher, but availability is lower per supplier. U.S. seaborne imports of computers linked to Acer fell by 8.9% in Q2 and were 24.2% lower ...