Hyderabad: Webcams fly off shelves in city

Hyderabad: Planning to buy a webcam? Be prepared to wait for a fortnight. Thanks to online classes for students and online meetings and webinars, the demand for webcams in the last three months has risen multifold. Video-calling apps like Zoom and Skype have become popular and, as a result, the demand has gone up.

For years, consumers have gravitated toward newer, smaller, more mobile devices but in the last three months, webcams have once again become sought after. The coronavirus pandemic changed all that was normal, and many have begun to work or study from home and are heavily relying on technology to keep in touch with family and friends.

Azmat, owner of his shop Computer World in Parlane, informed, "The webcam stock is not even one per cent in the market. Before lockdown, webcams were hardly sold as all had smartphones and laptops with inbuilt cameras but due to a dramatic shift in remote work, distance learning and telemedicine over the past few weeks, webcams are in high demand across the city."

Most of those working from home or studying don't have a laptop; as a result, the demand for external webcams has shot up in the city. Those with desktops are also joining the bandwagon of webcam users. "With so many people now firmly settled into work-from-home life, webcams have become nearly impossible to find. We have sold all the available webcams in stock with us now there is a high demand but no supply," he adds further.

The normal market price of a webcam is between Rs 500 to Rs 700 but, because of the high demand and less stocks sellers are selling it at double rates up to Rs 1,500 to 1,700 but the ones on Amazon are up to Rs 2,000 to 3,000 Dharam Lalwani, owner of Computer Bazar in Park Lane, says that if you're working from home on a desktop or maybe just looking to touch up the mediocre quality of whatever camera you're stuck with, external webcams are still a crucial accessory.

"As most webcams are manufactured and shipped from China because of the pandemic the webcams are out of stock. The demand have been so much that in city standalone the webcams are out of stock on Amazon and other major retailers due to Coronavirus," says Dharam Lalwani.