Prices of electronics goods drop by up to 13 percent
Prices of electronics goods drop by up to 13 percent
Sari P. Setiogi
The Jakarta Post
Jakarta
The prices of electronics products have dropped by between 4
percent and 13 percent following tax cuts introduced by the
government recently, according to an industry executive.
"There's been a big (price) adjustment," said PT LG
Electronics Indonesia's marketing and sales manager Sung Khiun
during a product launching ceremony on Thursday.
The government earlier this month eliminated or reduced luxury
tax on some 45 mainly electronics products as part of a fiscal
stimulus package to help the business sector cope with the
ongoing economic downturn and encourage new investment in various
sectors.
Khiun said that the prices of LG television sets of up to 21
inches had gone down by between 5 percent and 7 percent, while
the prices of refrigerators with a maximum capacity of 180 liters
had fallen by between 4 percent and 6 percent.
He added that the prices of air conditioners with a maximum
capacity of one PK had dropped by between 8 percent and 13
percent.
According to Khiun, a one-PK air conditioner is now available
for Rp 2.5 million. In June 2002, a one-PK LG air conditioner was
being sold for around Rp 3 million (US$337).
Samsung's managing director Lee Kang Hyun said that his
company had also made some price adjustments in response to the
tax changes.
"The prices of Samsung televisions and air conditioners have
been reduced by between 5 percent and 10 percent," he said, but
quickly added there had been no significant increase in sales so
far.
He expected that sales would start growing over the coming
months.
Handoko Setiono, spokesman for the Electronics Marketers Club
told The Jakarta Post earlier sales of electronic goods could
rise by between 15 percent and 25 percent this year due to the
tax cuts.
Elsewhere, Khiun said that LG planned to expand its audio
manufacturing business in Indonesia this year and to make
Indonesia its second largest export base after China.
"Indonesia actually has great potential as an export base for
electronics exports, but to attract investors, tax breaks are not
enough," he said, stressing that the government needed to
encourage the development of the components industry, curb
illegal imports of electronics products and, most of all, ensure
consistency in government policy and regulations.