Price rise: Sony follows Acer with big price increases coming 2009

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Monday, 01 December 2008 07:05

Opinion and Analysis

Having “unofficially” heard from one major electronics manufacturer in the last few weeks that price rises were coming in 2009, the official news that price rises due to the Aussie dollar’s fall can no longer be hidden. A big boost in Christmas sales could well the be result but what will 2009’s sales figures look like?

If you need to buy new consumer electronics or whitegoods, it looks like you’ve got four to eight weeks before prices rise from anywhere between 15% and 30%.

We learned in the last couple of weeks that Acer was raising its prices by 25% in its next order of goods from overseas, with existing stock to be sold at current prices.

Now Sony has come out with the news that Bravia TV’s will rise in price by 15% on February 1, 2009 – the first actual price rise for televisions in years.

But that’s not all – Sony’s notebook PCs and car audio products will rise by a whopping 30% in price from January 1, 2009, and much of Sony’s other consumer electronic products will rise in price from 5% to 30% from February 1.

The news comes thanks to Current.com.au, with the 15% Bravia price rise article here, and the 30% price rise article here.

Sony’s Australian MD Carl Rose said the price rises were due to the fluctuation and drop of the Aussie dollar, and that Sony would “work closely with retail partners” to “minimise the impact”, although the only way consumers can minimise the impact to their wallets is to buy in 2008.

Rose also made specific mention of the fact that Sony is holding back from any price increases over the “important Christmas trading period”.

Much more detail at the Current.com.au articles linked to above, but the message is clear: big price rises are coming next year, so if you need new gear and can afford to put it on the credit card or buy it with cash... now is the time!