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Retailers report electronics rationing
Despite noisy sales promotions offering “shocking price reductions,” consumer demand for electronics and home appliances has remained low. As a result, when the market blossoms in the last months of 2009, retailers warn that the supply will be limited.
A large HCM City home appliance retailer reported that since the beginning of 2009, they have only been able to place restricted orders with suppliers, especially for mobile phone, laptops, and LCD TVs.
Since production has declined to 60-70 percent of that in 2008, importers must “divide products equally.”
Shortage or scheme?
Hoang Ngoc Vy, Director of Vien Thong mobile phone retailers confirmed that the shortage has been ongoing for the last several months.
Lien An Thach, Business Director for Cho Lon home appliance chain, recounted that full orders for CRT TVs can only be provided by Samsung and TCL, whereas Panasonic and JVC have limited their delivery volume. LCD TVs priced below seven million dong have also been rationed.
Le Thanh Hang, Vietnam’s Canon representative, confirmed that suppliers are importing controlled quantities and thus have few goods for retailers.
In contrast, retailers speculate that suppliers have deliberately refused to provide goods so that prices would increase, offsetting their losses during exchange rate fluctuations.
According to the General Statistics Office, the dollar price has increased by 6.12 percent so far this year. Distributors worry about locating enough dollars to pay for imports.
“The purchasing power of 2009 is the lowest in the last five years,” one retailer observed. “Products with new technology have very high prices, so importers avoid importing them in large quantities.”
Producers in Vietnam say shortage won’t occur
Representatives of electronics producers in Vietnam dismiss rumors of a supply shortage. No matter how high consumer demand rises, Sony Vietnam stated that it can meet retailers’ needs. Samsung Vietnam affirmed that it is still maintaining scheduled production levels to have enough for year-end sales.
According to Le Van Chinh, technical advisor at Soincamedia, purchases of electronics goods may increase sharply when prices go to expected levels.
“Many producers have adjusted their production scale, but this does not mean that products will be lacking,” he noted.
Mike Asao, Chief Representative of Canon Singapore in Vietnam, predicted that the home appliances and digital products markets will rise by 20-30 percent by the end of 2009 over the same period in 2008.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade reported that computers, electronics and electronic parts imports in the first nine months of the year reached $2.68 billion, an increase of one percent over those months in 2008.
If Vietnam maintains its current import pace, the total import revenue of these products will be about $3.8 billion this year, up by 2.7 percent over 2008.
vietnamnet, sgtt
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