I have always wondered why electronics stuff are being sold at very bloated prices here in the Philippines. We're supposed to be a third world country so stuff like these should be sold cheap so that at least everybody can afford it. And if everybody will be able to buy it, the less privileged will have access to technology that can at least educated them and bring them out of misery.
I mean, picture this:
In the United States....
(I got the US Prices below from a Christmas catalog sent by Dell)
... a
Canon SD 1000 (Ixus) digital camera is being sold for an average price of
US$150 (P6,150)... here it's being sold at around P19,950 - P20,000
... a standard
DELL PC (Windows Vista Home Premium, 20-inches Flat Widescreen LCD Screen, 250 Gig HardDrive, 1 Gig memory, Dual Core) is being sold for only
US$350 (P14,350).... my goodness, with all those specs (read it again 250 gig HardDrive!) I think it will be sold in Pinas for more than P40k.... tapos flatscreen LCD pa yan ha!!! hindi yung parang TV Monitor, hehehehehe...
... a standard
DELL Laptop (Windows Vista, 1 Gig memory, 120 Gig HardDrive, Dual Core) is being sold for only
US$499 (P20,459)..... here in Pinas, with that kind of specs, ewan magkano kaya presyo nyan.... I think yung Asus na EEPC ba yun ang mabibili mo lang cguro for less than P20k dito sa Pinas pero 4 gig lang ang HardDrive tapos walang CD/DVD drive pa, waahh...
Most of the electronic stuff are made in Japan, some in Taiwan.. eh mas malapit pa ang Pinas sa mga bansang yan ah!
Why is it expensive here? Status symbol perhaps? Could it be embedded in our psyche that these stuff should be expensive for the so-called "value" thingy? Eh sa America parang tinatapon lang yata mga ganitong bagay eh dito sa atin maypa value2x pa tayo...
..