Home appliance makers to boost prices by year-end
Date: 2004/10/07 12:29:34
URL: news.cens.com
In response to the price hike of raw materials in the international market, Matsushita Electric (Taiwan) Co., a leading electric home appliance maker in Taiwan, will raise the sale prices of its home appliances at the end of this month. This may force major counterparts to follow suit.
The company has decided to boost the prices of its washing machines and refrigerators by 5 percent for an average increase of NT$1,000-2,000 (US$29.41-58.82 at US$1 = NT$34) per unit. Most of the firm's local counterparts including Taiwan Kolin Co. and Sampo Corp. are very likely to follow suit.
Chen Shih-chang, president of the company, said that international oil price already broke the level of US$50 per barrel in the past few months, which, in turn, pushed up the prices of plastic materials widely used in electric home appliances. In addition, the prices of other materials such as copper, iron and aluminum have stayed high since the beginning of this year. As a result, the production cost of home appliances has surged significantly.
"To survive the increasingly steep competition, home appliance makers here have long absorbed the resultant extra cost. Now we have almost cleaned inventories and have therefore to reflect the increased cost on the price of newly manufactured products," Chen noted.
Chen Hui-chung, chief executive at Sampo's home appliances department, confirmed that Sampo would surely follow Matsushita's footstep as long as the latter raises the prices for its products. He emphasized that the price hike of raw materials has already seriously undermined the profit margins of home appliance makers here.
Kao Chao-chun, vice president and spokesman of Kolin, advised home appliance makers to adjust the prices of their products in accordance with the price hike of raw materials. He disclosed that Kolin would not rule out the possibility of raising the sales prices of its products in the fourth quarter of the year, if necessary. |
