Schools across the U.S. are facing shortages and long delays in getting this year’s most crucial back-to-school accessory: laptops. apne.ws/inbroyV
As millions of American kids start the school year virtually, school districts are facing a laptop shortage and long delays in orders, particularly for the low-cost Chromebooks popular in K-12 schools across the country.
The world’s three biggest computer companies, Lenovo, HP and Dell, have told school districts they have a shortage of nearly 5 million laptops, in some cases exacerbated by Trump administration sanctions on Chinese suppliers.
The supply of laptops can't keep up with exceptionally high demand. It's the same reason that toilet paper and other pandemic necessities flew off shelves a few months ago.
AP's investigation found that school districts in at least 15 states were waiting on orders for Chromebooks and other equipment. Among them are some of the biggest in the country: Los Angeles; Clark County, Nevada; Wake County, North Carolina; Houston and Palm Beach, Florida.
Smaller districts in New Hampshire, North Dakota, Texas, Ohio, Indiana and elsewhere say their delivery dates have become moving targets.
“Who would have ever thought that computers and Clorox Wipes would be on the same level of need in our country,” says one Texas school official.
Want to buy your own Chromebook? Good luck. Best Buy's website shows 36 models of Chromebooks priced under $500, the low-cost models that are popular for students. As of this week, 33 of those models were sold out.
