Tensions between U.S and China have been increasing and the latest in the long list of difficult things being passed on by 1 country to another is the imposition of higher taxes on China-imported goods. This means that anything that is made or comes from China will go up in terms of costs, and to maintain operations – Selling prices have to increase.
An article from a Chinese newspaper, Economic Daily News, some brands are already looking to increase the SRP of Consumer Laptops and Devices somewhere between 10% to 25% to reflect the imposed tariffs and increased costs. This means that laptops we used to enjoy at 799$, the magic price for gaming laptops these days, may start to hit 999$.
As you know, many customers from the Philippines still prefer to buy their laptops from the U.S due to the high taxes imposed on goods locally. To refresh you, there’s a 12% VAT imposed on goods, aside from the freight chargers and distribution charges that’s why most goods in PH are atleast 20%-30% higher than GLOBAL or U.S selling prices.
For example, A 899$ Ryzen7-3750H + GTX1650 is translated to PHP47.5K and already carries 8GB and 512GB SSD before shipping costs but the PH variant costs PHP54,995 already but only carries a measly 4GB ram and a slow 1TB HDD drive. Add the costs of the 8GB ram and 512GB SSD, and you’re looking at PHP59,995 or a FULL 26% PRICE GAP.!
Ofcourse, the warranty and service will be different wherein there’s peace of mind to buy local products with local warranty (BECAUSE IT’S SUCH A HASSLE TO GET WARRANTY FOR LAPTOPS NOT FROM THE COUNTRY) but soon, that won’t be the only reason to buy laptops locally.
Once the tarrifs are fully imposed, the 899$ SRP of the FX505DT will increase to roughly 1099$ or higher, which translates to PHP58.5K which is VERY close to the local SRP. With only 1.5K Pesos savings, it doesn’t make sense to go through the trouble of buying in the U.S and waiting for it to ship here anymore.