Prices drop for consumer electronics

Electronics shops in Ha Noi are offering discounts of up to 49 per cent despite the devaluation of the Vietnamese dong which has seen the price of imported goods rise.

At Media Mart, one of the largest electronic centres in Hoan Kiem District, television sets, fans, fridges, washing machines and air conditioners have been discounted by 25-49 per cent since the beginning of the month.

The discounts were a result of the city's promotional sales month, the centre said.

Similar discounts are available at the Tran Anh Computer Company and Pico Plaza.

The head of Pico Plaza's Sales Department, Nguyen Quang Duc, explained that to prepare for the year-end sales season, electronic stores and supermarkets had previously imported large volumes of products, so that they were not affected by the devaluation.

Marketing Director of CMC Distribution Ho Quoc Hue said the volume of stockpiled electronic products, had coincided with many of the products being produced and assembled in Viet Nam, so that the impact of the dong's devaluation had been minimal.

While the devaluation hasn't increased the price of electronic goods, it had started to have a strong impact on high-tech products.

For more than a week, companies, distributors and stores have started to increase prices of high-tech products such as mobile phones and laptops, because almost all the high-tech goods are imported based on the price of US dollar on the black market.

For example, the price of some Nokia mobile phones has increased by 3-5 per cent.

A spokesperson for FPT, which acts as a distributor for Nokia products, said the current exchange rate had forced his company to increase prices.

Hue also said products which were imported from October would be strongly affected by the exchange rate. This would be shown in the end of November and December.

The price of products imported from the end of October would be increased by 7-10 per cent. This increase might have some affect on purchases, but it would not be significant, he said.

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