Electronic goods sales soar with temperatures

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Wed, 11/29/2006 12:47 PM | Jakarta

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The dry season usually comes to an end with an abrupt cool change, but though it has rained several times this week, the weather remain sticky and humid.

Jakartans' best defense during the prolonged dry season has been to close up the house and switch on the air-conditioning.

But, as temperatures soared, so too did the prices of air-conditioners, fans and water pumps.

""Air conditioners are our fastest moving items compared to other electronic goods,"" said Dian, a sales assistant at an electronics shop in Mangga Dua, North Jakarta.

AC sales at a number of electronics shops increased by 50 percent within the last few weeks.

Yani, an assistant at another electronics shop in Mangga Dua, said there was a high demand for ACs but stock was low as the year was drawing to a close.

""In order to deal with the high demand we have increased our prices,"" she said.

While AC vendors might argue that Jakartans have no need for a simple fan, their competitors report that growing fan sales continue to drive profits.

""Our fan sales have gone up 20 percent from October,"" Johan Jap, a sales assistant at an electronics shop in Bendungan Hilir Market, Central Jakarta, said happily.

""On a busy day, six or seven people come in to buy fans. About 30 percent of our daily turnover of Rp 1,500,000 comes from fan sales,"" he added.

Fans, which can be purchased for as little as Rp 50,000, are bought by a range of people, but are particularly popular with students and workers living in rented rooms.

""We recently started renting a room near our school for Rp 350,000 a month. It is very stuffy inside, so we definitely need to buy a fan as soon as possible,"" said Maria Ulfah.

""Low-income earners typically go for the cheapest fan on the market, they don't usually take the brand into consideration,"" Johan said.

Water pumps also sold well during the long dry season.

As water reserves dried up, people looked for more energy-efficient pumps.

""The prices of certain imported pumps went up by 10 percent due to high demand coupled with low stock,"" said Ardi, a pump seller in Kenari market, Central Jakarta, on Friday.

Within the last two months, Ardi sold about 50 jet-pumps. He said pump sales averaged 15 a month this year, whereas last year he was lucky to sell eight a month.

Vendors said that importers thought the rainy season would start in September,""they decided not to bring in as many pumps, without knowing the dry season would last for so long.""

Some climate experts say that rising temperatures are evidence of global warming, an increase in the average temperature of the earth's atmosphere.

A United Nations panel on climate change projected in 2002 that temperatures this century would increase by 1.4 to 5.8 degrees Celsius. (02/04/07)

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