Strong sales of digital products; digital SLR sales were up 160% and flat-styled TV sales were up 127% from a year ago.

Deflation of laptop PCs with Core 2 Duo and flat-styled TVs remains.

Now, we would like to look at the changes of product prices in these markets. We gathered the transition rate (from the last week of June to the third week of August) and the deflation rate (compared with the last week of June) of the average price of flat-styled TVs and laptop PCs.

During the last week of June, the average price of flat-styled TVs was about ¥140,000. The price fell below ¥140,000, but recovered the third week of August. When we look at the TV prices by monitor size, 32” models, the most popular type, are running about ¥120,000. The 20” and 37” models are also stable. However, the price of 42” models have declined about ¥14,000 from June to August, and we can expect the deflation of large monitor models to continue.

On the other hand, the price of laptop PCs has declined drastically. At the last week of June, the average price was around ¥130,000 and is gradually declining. During the latest week, the average price was about ¥120,000. With deflation due to stock removal or summer sales, we can get some models for ¥100,000 or less.

High end PCs with built-in dual core CPUs had an especially big decline. The average price of PCs with “Core 2 Duo” went down from ¥170,000 to ¥150,000 in the last three months.

This deflation made the big sales of this summer. If this trend continues, it must be to stimulate the market demand.

When will this deflation end?

The trend of digital products is the competition between both price and specifications. Some products include added values such as “full HD” or “link-function” like flat-styled TVs or digital camcorders, and others will try to set inexpensive prices.

However, if the prices of current models are declining, new products will be coming soon. Be cool and do not miss the time to buy.