Expect Popular Robot Kits to be Out of Stock
Parallax is experiencing significant supply chain shortages with key components (including servo motors and microcontrollers) used in the following robot kits:
Between April and July 2022, we are expecting these kits to be out of stock more than they are in stock.
Submit a Purchase Order to Guarantee Robot Kits
We know this will be inconvenient for educational users in particular. If you’re running a spring or summer quarter class, summer camp, a robotic club, or after-school program through July 2022, we have a solution. Submit a purchase order now with your delivery date. We fill orders in the sequence they are received and allocate inventory to future deliveries, ensuring your kits will be shipped. If you need a quote for your purchase order, please contact Chantal or Kristina at sales@parallax.com.
If you want to wait until you see inventory on the product pages, it could be too late to buy these for your classroom because they will be out of stock again, sometimes the same day.
Price Increases Likely, Too
We are subject to frequent supply chain increases on our products due to tariffs, component obsolescence (which force frequent PCB redesigns), pandemics, and now the worldwide semiconductor shortage. We may never have absolute certainty about the specific causes of these cost increases and shortages, but they’re now common and we have to pay more for our raw materials (and inbound shipping). We expect to increase the price of our robot kits by $10-30 each in the coming days to cover these costs.
Raising prices is a painful process for us. We want to keep our robot kits priced so that every student can build and program their own robot for $250. Sometimes, fixed budgets force students to pair up on our kits. If this sounds like a situation you may experience, you can split the circuit building and coding tasks between two students, switching them off each day.
I’ll post updates on this page as they are available.
Ken Gracey
Parallax Inc.
