Rumours abound that Sony will be be putting up their UK prices by about 30% in the new year. Anyone else heard this?

Not heard that, but know a man on here that should be able to confirm. I'm sure he'll see this in due course...

Steve

Surely that would be economic suicide in the present climate :confused:

Surely that would be economic suicide in the present climate :confused:

That would be my thoughts but apparently there's a Sky News/Yahoo news story Electronics Giant In Prices Shock to back it up.

Could be brinkmanship to make people buy sony sooner rather than later.

Edited 21 November, 200817 yr by daiking

Could be brinkmanship to make people buy sony sooner rather than later.

Xmas production of PS3 starting to stockpile?????????:rofl:

Sounds to me like a "rush out and buy now" campaign

Also, a 30% hike sounds ridiculous.

Steve

Quick quick, buy it before it all goes up... oh ok yeah that was too much looks like a typo too was meant to say 3%

The 3% figure sounds better

Interestingly, with big multinational countries (not just Sony), the overall global economic climate makes for difficult times within the companies as certain products or components are brought from different countries and so the fluctuation in currencies has a big internal impact on costs.

I guess, judging by that comment, that prices may go up a bit, but it won't be just Sony, trust me on that!

Between exchange rate reductions on one side and increases on the other, the true variation is a lot more than 3% and probably closer to 30%. But fortunately, big corporations who saw this coming are able to smooth it out a bit so to the end consumer, it's closer to 3%. I guess smaller Japanese companies out there may struggle :(

30% or a third was apparently the figure quoted on the TV.

The Sky report is now listing Panasonic as well.

Electronics Firm Sony To Increase Its Prices In The UK, Sky News Learns | Business | Sky News

but when you look at the yen graph you can see that there's a problem

Sony hikes prices as yen value soars - Business News, Business - The Independent

Sony is planning big price rises in the UK because of the strength of the yen against sterling, in a move that threatens to put extra pressure on Britain's embattled retail sector.

The Japanese electronics giant said it had informed trade customers in the past 48 hours of the price increases in Britain and Ireland driven by the yen's rise against the pound and the euro.

"The precise level of price increases has not yet been agreed, but it is likely that the vast majority of products affected will see increases of less than 33 per cent," Sony said in a statement. "As these testing trading conditions continue, Sony does not believe that it will be alone in taking this form of action."

Sony's move comes as retailers slash prices ahead of what is expected to be the worst Christmas shopping season since the early 1980s as fearful consumers rein in spending to prepare for a sharp recession. Groups such as Marks & Spencer and Debenhams have held one-off sales to try to kick-start spending amid the deepening gloom.

A spokeswoman for Sony declined to comment on when the price rises would take effect, and whether they could impact retailers before Christmas. Sony's big products include PlayStation games consoles, Bravia high-definition televisions and Blu-ray second generation DVD players.

A spokesman for the British Retail Consortium said: "Retailers realise that conditions are very tough for consumers so they would be very loath to pass that on to consumers and are more likely to take a hit on their margins. This is not going to help because retailers are already feeling the squeeze from other rising costs. It will be another pressure for them to contend with."

The yen has surged in recent months as investors have unwound carry trades that saw them borrow yen cheaply to buy higher yielding assets in other currencies. G7 finance ministers said last month that they were concerned about the effect on economic stability of the yen's massive gains.

Sam Hart, an analyst at Charles Stanley & Co, said price rises from Asian suppliers would not be limited to Japanese companies. "This is a major issue that is affecting the whole retail sector at the moment," he said. "A very significant proportion of goods these days come from Asia, where a significant number of currencies are linked to the US dollar."

Mr Hart said market observers had been relatively relaxed about the short-term impact of volatile currencies because big retailers hedge their currency exposure on purchases from Asia, but he added that a straight price hike by Sony's UK operation could be a different matter.

Sony is under pressure to maintain growth as economic conditions add to existing problems in its core consumer electronics business. Last month, the company cut its operating profit forecast by 57 per cent, blaming the strong yen, falling stock markets and the slowing world economy. Even successful products such as Blu-ray players were failing to meet the electronics giant's sales expectations, while prices continued to soften.

I had a look at this and found a report stating that Sony will up its prices by 11% on 1st of Jan 2009, Panasonic, Toshiba etc are expected to follow suit.

So come January everybody's over spent at Christmas, the economy is not doing to well, job losses are on the increase, fuel bills will be arriving at a higher rate than before and the large Japanese electrical goods suppliers are upping their prices. I think they might see a sudden downturn in sales, or they are trying to panic us into buying their products before Jan 1st.

How about we all club together and buy up large stocks of popular Sony products and sell them in the new year when Sony start banging in the price rises.

Glad I bought my Panasonic plasma when I did.. since then it's already gone up £100! :eek: Looks like it's set to go up even further.

Glad I bought my Panasonic plasma when I did.. since then it's already gone up £100! :eek: Looks like it's set to go up even further.

Rediculous, no wonder they label the UK 'treasure island', at least you

bought a decent tv, Sony's lcd's are over-priced ****, and they want

to stick another 30% on?

I'm glad I made the switch to plasma... much better for my PS3