為什么現(xiàn)在買一臺(tái)新冰箱這么難

為什么現(xiàn)在買一臺(tái)新冰箱這么難

A worker pushes a cart past refrigerators at a Home Depot in Boston in January, before the coronavirus pandemic threw a monkey wrench into the supply and demand of major appliances.

今年1月，波士頓一家家得寶的工人推著一輛手推車從冰箱旁經(jīng)過(guò)，當(dāng)時(shí)冠狀病毒流行病影響了主要家電的供應(yīng)和需求。

Shay Chandler did not plan to buy what seemed like the last full-sized refrigerator in all of San Antonio. When her old one broke a few weekends ago, she discovered she'd have to wait almost two months for a replacement.

謝伊·錢德勒并不打算購(gòu)買似乎是整個(gè)圣安東尼奧市最后一臺(tái)全尺寸冰箱。幾個(gè)周末前她的舊的壞了，她發(fā)現(xiàn)她得等將近兩個(gè)月才能換一臺(tái)新的。

"I found out that all I could buy was a mini fridge," she said.

“我發(fā)現(xiàn)我只能買一個(gè)迷你冰箱，”她說(shuō)。

Shortages have hit all kinds of major appliances: dishwashers, dryers, dehumidifiers, even some of the microwaves. That's because the pandemic threw a monkey wrench into both their supply and demand.

各種主要家電都出現(xiàn)短缺:洗碗機(jī)、烘干機(jī)、除濕機(jī)，甚至一些微波爐。這是因?yàn)榱餍胁〗o他們的供給和需求都帶來(lái)了麻煩。

"We sold more freezers in two days than we did all of last year," said Steve Sheinkopf, who runs Yale Appliance with stores outside Boston. "People were storing stuff, because we thought this was the end of times, we needed food."

史蒂夫·謝克普夫是耶魯家電公司的老板，他在波士頓以外的地方也有分店。他說(shuō):“我們兩天內(nèi)就賣出了比去年全年還要多的冰箱。”“人們?cè)趦?chǔ)存東西，因?yàn)槲覀冋J(rèn)為這是世界末日，我們需要食物。”

At the same time, makers and sellers faced the difficult task of planning for the future. They were calculating how many appliances they would sell later in the year (as in, now).

與此同時(shí)，制造商和銷售商面臨著規(guī)劃未來(lái)的艱巨任務(wù)。他們?cè)谟?jì)算今年晚些時(shí)候(比如現(xiàn)在)會(huì)賣出多少家電。

And months ago, it was logical for companies to worry that shoppers would stop spending. Businesses closed en masse. Layoffs swept the country. A historic recessionbegan. It made sense for factories to scale back manufacturing plans and for stores to pull back orders.

幾個(gè)月前，企業(yè)擔(dān)心消費(fèi)者會(huì)停止消費(fèi)是合乎邏輯的。企業(yè)紛紛倒閉。失業(yè)席卷全國(guó)。一場(chǎng)歷史性的衰退開始了。工廠縮減生產(chǎn)計(jì)劃，商店撤回訂單，都是有道理的。

An even bigger factor was the health crisis itself.

一個(gè)更大的因素是健康危機(jī)本身。

Many factories had to close or allow fewer people inside, slowing down production.

許多工廠不得不關(guān)閉或減少人員進(jìn)入，從而減緩了生產(chǎn)。

Turns out, when people are stuck at home — constantly reheating leftovers and baking bread — things start breaking. Even more so, unable to splurge on trips and outings, people began obsessing over their immediate surroundings, moving to new homes and going wild with home improvement.

事實(shí)證明，當(dāng)人們被困在家里——不停地加熱剩菜剩飯和烤面包——東西就開始損壞。更糟糕的是，由于無(wú)法在旅行和郊游上揮霍，人們開始沉迷于周圍的環(huán)境，搬到新家，瘋狂地改善家居環(huán)境。

Now, experts are warning of backlogs on some appliance brands and models through the end of the year and potentially into 2021.

現(xiàn)在，專家警告說(shuō)，一些家電品牌和型號(hào)的積壓可能會(huì)持續(xù)到今年年底，甚至可能持續(xù)到2021年。

"It's kind of the perfect storm of all these factors that are creating this demand, and brands like LG are ramping up to meet it," said John Taylor, chief spokesman for LG Electronics USA. He said his company was less affected by supply disruptions than some others, but it's facing "unprecedented demand" for kitchen and laundry appliances.

美國(guó)LG電子公司首席發(fā)言人約翰•泰勒表示:“所有這些因素都在創(chuàng)造這種需求，就像一場(chǎng)完美風(fēng)暴一樣，LG等品牌都在努力滿足這種需求。”他說(shuō)，與其他公司相比，他的公司受到供應(yīng)中斷的影響較小，但它面臨著對(duì)廚房和洗衣用具的“前所未有的需求”。