The Malaysian Insight

THERE is a shortage of tablets in retail stores in Kuala Lumpur after parents snapped them up for their children to use for online schooling, said traders.

They said parents preferred tablets as opposed to laptops as they are cheaper and relatively easier for the kids to handle.

Retailers also told The Malaysian Insight that volunteer groups were purchasing tablets in bulk to be donated to children whose families could not afford to buy them.

The new academic semester began this month, with classes continuing to be conducted online due to the Covid-19 movement restrictions.

“Stocks of our tablets have been running low, especially this week, as most of the customers came last week to buy now that school has started,” said sales executive Noriana Salleh, who works for a shop in Low Yat Plaza, the go-to mall for such devices.

She said the shortage was so acute that customers had no colour options left for the type of tablet they wanted.

“We sold about 10 units of tablets a day. At the end of the week, parents had to resort to buying TV boxes as we had run out of tablets.

“The tablets we sell are below RM1,000, which is a very affordable price. That could be one of the reasons we sold out so quickly,” she said

Another retailer, Carmen Ooi, said civil groups purchased tablets in bulk last week to donate to those in need.

“I had 30 individual orders, but at one point I could not supply them as I had run out of stock due to the bulk purchases.

“This week alone, we have about 300 orders but we don’t know when new stock will arrive.

“Our tablets cost between RM400 and RM600 a unit, which I would say is among the cheapest prices in the market for tablets,” she said.

Another retailer, Ayden Chin, said customers preferred to buy tablets over laptops because they are affordable.

“The cheapest laptop would cost about RM2,000, while the cheapest tab would only cost the customer about RM450,” said Ayden

Earlier this week, celebrity preacher and philanthropist Ebit Lew provided 200 tablets to students in need in four districts on Sabah’s east coast.

Likewise, lawmakers are giving tablets out to needy students in their constituencies. – February 1, 2021.