Price of new computers and laptops on the rise

[Dannie Boy]

Apple MacBook Air laptops are the equivalent of more than £100 cheaper in Thailand than the UK -of course they’re not cheap but at least here for those that like Apple products, not as expensive as the UK.

[buksida]

I knew you were going to say that, we've had this convo countless times. (I did look it up and the difference is negligible when you factor in forex rates and warranties).

However, I'm not talking about Apple (a US company), these are Asian manufacturers' laptops that are being hiked. Some are nearly 40% more than the same machine in the US.

[Dannie Boy]

I was simply saying that not all prices are higher here - a MacBook Air M4 in the UK is available from Amazon reduced from £999 to £899.

At iStudio the same machine is B34,900, which give or take is say £799 so £100 cheaper - one year warranty with both.

[buksida]

Macbook Pro in the US - $1,599 ... same machine in Thailand is 54,900 ... go figure. Maybe the UK has a premium on Apple products, but in general, computers are more expensive in Thailand, where there is a premium on nearly all products, much more now looking at recent hikes.

[Dannie Boy]

Yes I get that, but the US has always been cheaper - that $1,599 equates to £1,205 and yet Amazon sell the MacBook Pro for £1,759. In Thailand it’s B69,900 which is about £1,588. It’s simply the way it is.

[buksida]

I give up

If you had read my post, you'd see that I'm not talking about Apple or the UK or even comparing countries. I was observing how much gaming PC laptop prices were being increased here in Thailand and noting that it has nothing to do with US tariffs because they come from Asia.

[buksida]

Further to my observations, gaming laptops contain high-end graphics processors from Nvidia (a US company), so maybe they are subjecting them to projected tariffs (that haven't even kicked in yet) and hiking the prices. But that still doesn't explain why last year's spec machines, and even older ones imported years before the tariffs were announced, are going up so much. Pure profiteering.

[Dannie Boy]

I give up

If you had read my post, you'd see that I'm not talking about Apple or the UK or even comparing countries. I was observing how much gaming PC laptop prices were being increased here in Thailand and noting that it has nothing to do with US tariffs because they come from Asia.

Sorry Buks but what you actually said was that some laptop prices were being hiked by as much as 30%, and all I was doing was stating that some (Apple was my example) were not going up - as far as I’m aware they have been fairly stable.

I wasn’t trying to inflame this thread but as you seem to have taken offence I’ll leave it there.

[buksida]

Still on the hunt for a new laptop (not an iPad, and don't care about UK prices). Laptop prices fluctuate here between 10% and 15% on a daily basis, I presume related to model availability, which is very limited in Thailand (the only country where you can buy a computer and see it go up the next month!)

The ASUS machine I found on the JIB website yesterday is 3,000 baht more today. The same machine on Lazada was 20% more yesterday, so you really have to time it well and pull the trigger when you see a deal. They're also significantly marked up in the shopping malls, which have very limited stock, so avoid those.

Also noticed that there can be better deals buying online directly from the stores (Advice, JIB, IT City etc) than on Laz, which is full of dodgy outlets/sellers. However, today is 7.7, which may yield some bargains ... back to the hunt.

[Dannie Boy]

I’m in the UK at the moment and I keep getting adverts on Google for laptops in the US and UK with hefty discounts, so no idea why they seem to be going up in Thailand - currency fluctuations or profiteering?

[buksida]

Tariffs - Thailand slaps hefty import taxes on pretty much everything that comes in ... including tech. Hence, the Thai government flapping when America reciprocated (they still won't make a deal and the deadline is Wednesday ... 'somnumna').

Pulled the trigger on an ASUS TUF Gaming rig from the Advice store online today, should keep me going for a few years. There were lots of 3-year-old spec machines on Laz for stupid prices (more than they cost 3 years ago when my son bought one).

[pharvey]

^ What's the big difference with these "Gaming PCs" over a "standard" Laptop/PC as such? Is it purely RAM and Processor or other?