VietNamNet
Bridge – Replying to warnings that the tsunami and earthquake in Japan, which
has forced many factories to shut down, will lead to a new wave of price hikes
of hi-tech products in Vietnam, domestic distributors and retailers have
affirmed that the catastrophe will in no way affect the supply and the prices.

Pham Hong
Hai, Managing Director of CMC Distribution,  a company that distributes products of Sony
and Toshiba, said the prices of the products distributed by CMC have not
changed.

FPT
Distribution, the distributor of Toshiba’s, NEC’s and Logitec’s products, has
also said that the earthquake and tsunami in Japan has not affected the prices
available at FPT Distribution’s chain, because FPT is still selling the
products it imported before. A representative from the company said that
Japanese groups have been operating globally and they have production bases in
different countries. Therefore, products can be imported from different
sources, which will help keep the prices stable.

The
spokesman of Sony Group said that the catastrophe in Japan has badly affected the
group’s operation and forced some factories to shut down. However, the
components made by the factories are not used in the products sold on the
Vietnamese market. Therefore, the supply of hi-tech products on the domestic
market will be stable and the prices of products will not increase. A
representative of Sony has affirmed that Sony’s business plans will continue
and there will not be any changes. Sony Vietnam plans to launch some new
products to serve Vietnamese customers.

Foreign
press agencies have reported that Toshiba has to shut down an LCD assembling
line at a factory near Tokyo
for one month. Nguyen Hoang Linh, a high ranking officer of Toshiba’s Office in
Hanoi, said the office is considering the
possible impacts of the earthquake in Japan
on the supply of Toshiba’s products in Vietnam – the study results will be
complete in a few more days.

Meanwhile,
representatives of home appliance centers and retailers in Hanoi
also have said the catastrophe in Japan will not affect the supply of
hi-tech products. Le Quang Vu, Director of Media Mart, said Sony’s products
have been mostly imported from Malaysia
or from other countries, therefore, the supply will be stable. Pico supermarket
chain has also affirmed that the market has been stable with no considerable
changes.

La Xuan Thang,
Deputy Director of Dang Khoa Computer Supermarket, has also reassured the
public that the earthquake did not “shake” the information technology (IT)
product market in Vietnam.
“IT products have been made in other countries, not just Japan,” Thang
explained, adding that there are many factories which make semiconductor
components in Japan,
but the products made by the factories do not have the controlling role on the
IT product market.

While the
majority of distributors and retailers believe that the domestic hi-tech
product market will stay firmly away from the earthquake, some experts have
shown contradictory opinions. Hoang Anh Tuan, Business Director of Tran Anh
Home Appliance
Center, said that Toshiba
is the third biggest producer of NAND memory chips.  Since most of the chips are being made in Japan the
earthquake will affect the supply of the products using this kind of chip. So
is the situation for LCD screens, cameras and printing machines of Canon.

According
to Tuan, electronics prices began rising right after the earthquake and the
prices are likely to increase by 10-20 percent in the time to come.

While there
is disagreement about whether the earthquake in Japan would lead to the rise of
hi-tech products, analysts all have agreed that the prices may rise due to the
exchange rate adjustments and high inflation. Le Quang Vu from Media Mart, a
retailer has affirmed that hi-tech products have seen prices increase only because
of the rising consumer price index and dollar price increases.

La Xuan
Thang has warned that the hi-tech product market would have slower sales because
people are trying to save money in the current “price storm”.

C. V