Pandemic push for all things tech drives prices down – National Post

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Like little worker bees, many Canadians gathered up their resources to build home offices when the pandemic hit. 

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And when it became clear that a work-from-home reality would last longer than expected, lots went back to upgrade their gear. 

Best Buy numbers show a 196 per cent increase in purchases of gaming and laptops and eBook sales growing by about 75 per cent annually since 2020.

That’s all part of an unexpected demand in tech which now means some higher-end tech are more affordable than a few years ago, said Allan Kambeitz, Best Buy’s category officer for computer and digital imaging.

“Prices have gone down a lot,” he said. “If you couldn’t afford it before, now you can. But who knows what it will look like in six months.”

For example, while 27” monitor is the most popular, increasingly people are looking to get 32” or 34” ones. And they can for about $100 less than they would have a few years ago.

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This Asus laptop, for instance, was $349 from July 10 to Aug. 14, 2020 but available now for $229.99.

In many cases, it’s not necessarily lower prices but more for less.

During the peak of COVID-19, this Acer was $549.99. It still is but it’s a much better product with a new Intel processor and touchscreen. 

And if explosive data on consumer trends over the past 24 months is any indication, shoppers seem to want, not only more, but better tech to get their work done.

Monitor business, for instance, more than doubled, demand for the all-in-one computer grew by over 50 per cent and demand for Chromebooks (note to parents; this one is rugged and spill-resistant) grew by 186 per cent.

If your home office is a desk, chair and computer — you might be a dinosaur

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With work-from-home orders officially rolling out a little more than two …….

Source: https://nationalpost.com/shopping-essentials/pandemic-push-for-all-things-tech-drives-prices-down