“The entire market is experiencing problems. For instance, we have already placed orders for electronic circuits that will be made until end 2022. There are a lot of disruptions of the manufacturing chains of all industries,” Ion Bican, managing director of CER Cleaning Equipment, the company that operates the vacuum cleaner plant of Germany’s Kärcher in Curtea de Arges, has recently said.
The component shortage started last year due to the pandemic, but things continually worsened. At first, it was because the plants making such products closed, following the rise in the number of COVID-19 cases. Then production started again and went back to normal, but the shortage only became more serious due to the change in consumer spending patterns during the pandemic and more. Since people are spending more time at home, they are buying the newest TV sets, electronics and home appliances.
The appetite for bicycles, too, is at its highest during the pandemic, given the risk of using public transportation, while carmakers are investing in green or hybrid cars that rely heavily on technology. Manufacturing businesses say there is no improvement in sight in the near future.
“The international bicycle market is faced with a shortage of components. Judging from the current information, the shortage will last until the second half of 2022,” says Ioana Anghel, wheel sports leader with sporting goods retailer Decathlon Romania.
What does the shortage mean for consumers? Beyond the trouble finding some products, it will also lead to a rise in prices because demand is greater than supply.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)