This is one of those unbelievable recession stories.
One of my users called in with a broken printer. His HP 2015P stopped rolling paper and since new printers cost just like a technician's visit (the printer is over a year old and its warranty already expired) we have a no fix policy for this type of printers.
I buy most of my equipment via CDW and when I placed the order for a new HP 2035 (HP2015 is not at the make any more) I was struck to see a shipping date for the end of September. That was late August.
Stunned by the obvious mistake I called my CDW sales rep and he told me that there is a national shortage of HP printers. They shutdown a line last summer because they expected reduced demand. Well, I would check their analysts...
CDW had a waiting list, a back order for this specific item for over 1500 pieces!!!
