Sales of electronic devices from handheld tablets to large-screen displays have ramped up as Chinese are advised to work from home and students restricted at home in a nationwide effort to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
The large demand for computers can be reflected from the busy production lines at LCFC (Hefei) Electronics Technology Co., Ltd., the largest PC R&D and manufacturing base of the Chinese tech giant Lenovo.
In the company's workshop based in Hefei, capital of eastern China's Anhui Province, workers are putting in extra hours in production.
"We are catching up orders for nearly 3 million units of all types of computers and servers, which are about three times the amount in the same period of last year," said Bai Peng, CEO of LCFC.
Bai attributed the flooding of orders to the telework status and the need for studying and entertaining at home during the epidemic control, which turns computers, tablets and screen displays into essential tools for the activities.
According to statistics from Suning.com, China's major online retail platform of home appliances, not only did the sales of computers and tablets increase rapidly but the sales of learning-related equipment of home office printers increased by more than 100 percent year on year during the period from Jan. 24 to Feb. 11.
"I had a desktop computer at home, but it's pretty old and slow. I bought a new one because both my son and I need to use it a lot for studying and working at home," said Hu Mengjie, who works at the Hefei University of Technology.
Activities such as attending video conferences, taking online courses and playing computer games have enriched life at home, making it more productive, said the teacher.
Amid the coronavirus outbreak, schools across China have postponed the beginning of the new semester to avoid mass gatherings. Schools have opted for online courses to ensure millions of students occupied with guided study at home.
Hu's 8-year-old son needs to take three online classes per day, with each lasting for about 20 minutes.
As stores and shopping malls suspend operations, online trading platforms are seeing the surge in the buying of electronic devices.
Zhuanzhuan.com, an online trading platform for second-hand goods in China, also reports soaring sales of computers and tablets, with a year-on-year growth of 65.6 percent and 84.7 percent, respectively, during the period from Feb. 1 to 13.
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