Giving Compass' Take:

• Tim Newcomb issues a warning to those hoping to receive new technology promptly, as schools' remote learning demands have created long-lasting shortages.

• How can you restrict your own technological indulgences to support remote learning demands? What can you do to help fund schools struggling to support their students through online classes?

• Find out more about how you can get involved in supporting schools through the coronavirus.

A serious shortage of Chromebooks and iPads has reached its peak, says Lauren Guenveur, senior research analyst for International Data Corp., a provider of market intelligence, who studies devices and displays, tracking and forecasting national and global trends. She sees the sector correcting itself by the end of June, hopefully enabling school districts to get the technology they clamor for in time for fall.

“The demand in March and April has been tremendous,” she says. “Obviously, the shift to at-home learning created demand in the U.S. for Chromebooks and iPads, and to a lesser extent Windows laptops.” The demand really picked up by mid-March, after California and Washington state, followed by New York, went into lockdown.

Consumers suddenly forced to work from home stripped supplies of readily available technology from store shelves. That, combined with the massive surge in demand from schools, has added up to a delay in finding Chromebooks or iPads for districts.

“Most of this is coming down to the supply chain in China,” Guenveur says. “That is where most notebooks and tablets are sourced and shipped.” The coronavirus hit China early in 2020, shuttering a large portion of factories and, according to Bloomberg, reducing industrial output from the country by as much as 20 percent. The supply chain is now recovering, with many Chinese provinces nearing 100 percent manufacturing capability, prompting Guenveur to say she expects supplies to start becoming available again in May.

With the normal peak of school district buys happening in the second and third quarters, anyone needing a device right now — or into this summer, for that matter — may be stuck waiting.

Read the full article about remote learning demands and technology shortages by Tim Newcomb at The 74.