Our reader NSHK sent me the “official bad news”:
The following is the new official listed price in sony Hong Kong.
Effective from Feb 1
>30% up!!!
USD 1 = HKD 7.8
SAL1680Z HKD 5390 > HKD 7390 (Check in other stores: [shopcountry 5586])
SAL1635Z HKD11990 > HKD 15990 (Check in other stores: [shopcountry 9773])
SAL2470Z HKD 12590 > HKD 15990 (Check in other stores: [shopcountry 9776])
SAL85F14Z HKD 9990 > HKD 12590 (Check in other stores: [shopcountry 9786])
SAL135F18 HKD 10990 > HKD 13880 (Check in other stores: [shopcountry 9771])
SAL70300G HKD 5980 > HKD 7790 (Check in other stores: [shopcountry 9783])
SAL70400G HKD 10990 > HKD 15990 (Check in other stores: [shopcountry 9784])
UPDATE: Good news folks. The price increases will happen in Hong Kong only!!! The rest of thw world is save 🙂
60 Responses
i see no “new” price listed on the official web yet
http://www.sonystyle.com.hk/ss/product/alpha_lens/index.jsp
Absolutely crazy…..no one will buy the lens….
Glad that I have alle the lenses from Sony that I want, and have decided that my next 3 purchases will be Nex7N, A99 and 500F4.
But worried for the alpha platform
What a sick joke…Sony you’re so out of your mind!
Of course they’ll be people around buying stuff no matter what. Others, will keep on shooting film on cool FF or medium format cameras 🙂
Or maybe it’s the global economy and the current exchange rates?
I don’t see how this is Sony’s fault really..
In case you didn’t notice, the price of almost EVERYTHING is going up
It could be only Sony HK trying to cover their rising costs, or simply compensating for lower sales levels due to the lower stock level. It is quite common for prices in Hk to jump about a bit – prices are a little more flexible in HK than in the US and much more than in Europe.
http://www.price.com.hk
But 30 % ? That’s ridiculous eh ?
I’m from Hong Kong. The price increase (if that’s true) most definitely has something to do with the influx of millions of Mainland Chinese tourists who come down to shop every year. Of course on the supply side the Thai flood is also part of the reason.
ADMIN:
“I have still no confirmation that there will be price drops in other countries too. But I suggest you to buy the camera or lens you wnat before February 1!”
Makes no sense.
+1
Also there is no sense at all. Everything going up & I’m sure 90% of people there salaries the same as before not increasing no bounce too.
if that happened I really wont buy a thing unless prices to the original. If my memory not betray me 7 months ago they increase the prices. It was at medium prices but now it make me sick there are so many important things.
Even after the price increases you’ve shown, the lenses are still cheaper than in the UK.
Perhaps, it is just get HK prices more in line with the rest of the world. Just a thought.
May be.
No sales tax in HK so that’s a 17.5% discount from the UK. No import duty either…
20% now.. urgh
It angers me that when I spent £1400 on an a850, £280 of that goes to the government..
HK raising prices does not confirm anything.
sorry can anyone share the source? I didn’t find it announce on Sony website
Even with the new prices lenses in HK are still 20% cheaper than here where I live. So I guess it won’t be a global thing. Anyway, Sigma lenses are far cheaper and deliver 98% for 60% the price. Go Sony, Lol.
No any source yet
But I went to a few shop and they confirmed 1680za will be 7390 in 1st FEB.
This is absurd and stupid. They should increase their market share in upper level photographic stuff. This is not helping. 10% would be sort of ok, but 30%, honestly, WTF?
Awesome news! Good news from Sony! 😀
Tomorrow i will straight cash in my money for housing loan 😀 lol…
Bad news if:
a) You live in HK
b) Need one of those lenses from next month.
No bad news for me then!
In the UK we are already used to being ripped off compared to US and HK pricing. Welcome to our World!
The price in SONY(Hong Kong) website is still the lower one. Where is the “new official listed price”?
If this is a global 30% increase then Sony will loose many sales to the competition. I know there is a shortage of products, but to apply such a high increse is MADNESS / GREED
+1
It will be VERY GREEDY.
Production cost and rising YEN will fuel price increases, not only for Sony but other manufacturers.
if this is a global increase, byebye sony
+1
To be honest, the prices in HK have always been extra-ordinarily low.
I would have to agree, I think it’s just to bring the prices more in line with other regions also perhaps to try and reduce the grey marketing from HK into say UK and Australia as prices are expensive in these markets.
IF however Sony are planning to increase prices further in Australia I can’t see any reason for this as we already get ripped off like you can’t believed compared to parts of Asia and the US but hopefully this is the start of a more ‘standard’ world wide price and Australia/UK might drop so it’s then closer to other regions..etc..etc (if it’s on its way up even more locally (Australia) I will definitely be switching systems and sending a few rude e-mails and phone calls Sony’s way!)
I concur! In Australia we get the ‘Sony Tax’ on anything Sony. $2699 RRP for the 35 G or $2599 for 24-70 CZ is insane. For those that don’t know $1 USD = about $0.96 AUD.
I think Sony only stealing your money like this. It’s really greedy to collect fast money. The prices must be in a way suitable with its cost (I mean one lens how much it’s cost Sony to produce it, for example $500 USD & sell it about $1450 USD). Matt how could you live with Sony this way?!!!
Mr./Ms. Andrea,
Could you please send my message to Sony Marketing Division;
If they really will increase the prices they must create a list of people who strongly will boycotting Sony products & me the 1st one.
If the reason of this increasing prices affected by Crude Oil, my advice for Sony or any electronics company they should learn how to build there factories with solar energy. Solar energy is free right, except the equipments.
For long life low prices.
I could be wrong (hopfully not) but I think this is to do with Sony trying to cut down on grey imports into some markets such as UK/Australia and is bringing prices closer to global pricing… For some reason HK has had cheap prices and I think it’s caused allot of online shipping from that region and I’m sure Sony Australia, UK are not happy about it. Asia is also generally known to work on low margins and under RRP pricing so why there RRP was lower to start off with I just don’t understand!
As for running the factories on solar energy, I have a feeling that will not help prices go down but rather up, solar is not cheap to install, obviously will not offer enough power to run entire factories and can’t operate 24/7 like what is needed..etc..etc..Power costs in Asia are generally less than most European countries so I really don’t think this would be there most costly expense for them and would offer the savings needed per camera to justify the outlay..etc.etc.. (perhaps with newer generation solar once it drops in price and becomes more efficient but not right now)…
This answer seems wise to me. Maybe explains this strange move by Sony. Sony don’t be a fool.
I agree solar energy may not run huge factories 24/7, but did you notice after 2nd war everything change. A huge changes start with AD 2000. The technology develop very quick. For example; a huge mobile phone with maximum 5 number ability to a tiny mobile phone with more than 250 entry. Mobile phone now much cheaper than before. So they could do it by thinking as always.
I really have no idea about power energy costs in East Asia.
My opinion is the prices should be in a suitable price for every country.
I do not see what this talk about technology has to do with price increases in HK, which is obviously driven by marketing (or at best financial-economic) reasons.
Sony wants to undercut low-cost exports from HK, dot.
And at the same time Sony is very aware of the advance in technology etc., as they have contributed to it for at least 30 years.
Besides, all this “solar energy” alternative is not a suitable idea for a technology / manufacturing company that has been moving all factories during last months due to any kind of natural disasters. And, besides, I seriously doubt that solar energy would drive costs down, as at least in Japan Sony can use the resources of the nuclear plants that are still active, and that, according to the decisions taken after March and the Fukushima disaster, provide low-cost energy to the private industry first, and to the general community only secondly (and in fact in summer many energy saving politics were ordered in the TOkyo area, but only for the citizens, not for the economic and productive fields)
The fact is that regardless of the increase, if YOU don’t buy it, somebody else still will buy it. I doubt Sony will be losing any sleep over people here saying that they will not pay increase prices.
Well, those HK stores are selling at ebay and undercutting local stores in various countries. For people who want to buy products that may not have local warranties, this was a good way to save money. The authorized dealers, though,were probably not happy. Brining the HK prices inline with the rest of the world does not seem egregious to me.
holy shit , i goes to HK to get my lens …… =*((((
i was also going to HK to buy lens(es)… hopefully this won’t affect the E-mount lenses i want -_-
There is a strong grey market in Hong Kong so you can usually buy lenses below the list price. The cheapest places are not the big shops – the cheapest places are often hidden away in the apartment blocks nearby and to avoid being classed as commercial, you have to call ahead and make an appointment ! Or ring the door bell and agree to come back ten minutes later 😉 Crazy, but rent is THE cost driving up prices so this keeps their costs down. Warranties still valid.
Example is Shopping Ltd, which I have used and can recommend.
http://www.price.com.hk/shop.php?s=836
For those thought that buy from HK = losing warranty — U can exchange the HK warranty to Tourist Limited Warranty @ ANY HK sony service center. With that Tourist Limited Warranty + the receipt, u can get warranty claim in ur country. Please refer to ur country sony website for more details.
D-damn, didn’t know about that.
Where is the good news?
Any CP+ Camera and Photo Imaging show rumours?? Sony has to do something at there home market. Nikon is releasing D800 on Feb 7.
The price increase in Hong Kong really upset me. Why is Sony disrespecting their American customers by not increasing prices here as well. 😉 😉 😉
So should I lock in a price on a 5n now while it’s still reasonable?
I am going on a ski trip next month and wanted to get the camera a few weeks early to get used to it before I left. Of course now I can’t find a place that has one in stock. Some online retailers have a date of 1/30/12 but I suspect that’s not going to hold. Even if I am not going to get the camera until after my trip it might be worth it to reserve one at the current price.
Capitalism at its best.
hey guys please keep one thing in mind, in HK no import tax (to be paid by Sony) no GST, PST or VAT etc (to be paid by the costumer) that is the reason why the price there is ~30% cheaper than in Euro or the rest of the world…
I do agree price hike is reasonable, as the exchange rate of HK$ has been kept falling as US$ does. but then if the list price of Sony’s lenses is so-called inline with the rest of world is totally insane… plz do keep in mind that there is no import tax in HK… in the other words, if the price is “inline” with the UK price, when there is no VAT not any tax collected by the Government, then it is 30% higher….
well nothing the end user can do, ppl would buy it will buy it… just wanna clarify one thing, not that Sony sold their lenses in HK cheaper as they were nice, just that they r not required to pay import tax, nor the end user…
Tax here in AUS is 10% sales tax. This does NOT make the over 100% price increases we have over buying from HK. You can import from overseas an if under $1000 you pay no tax, pay a small amount of tax. $1200-1400 for a lens that costs $2500-$2700 here.
Totally agree, just does not seem right and I think prices need to be a bit more fair/constant (or closer). It’s causing allot of issues for local businesses that simply can’t compete when a businesses buy price from Sony Australia is more than what I can buy, import (freight, duties, taxes..etc..etc) and put money aside to do my own warranty+shipping if faults happen..etc..etc Something’s not right… perhaps Australia’s prices should drop (I believe they should!) but HK’s prices are crazy cheap for some reason… I think this price increase is long overdue for HK buyers! (other option lower every other regions prices but I can’t see this happening as it won’t be viable)
Even taking tax into account there is a significant difference in price when products hit UK shores. Here it’s so common that is has the name “rip-off Britain”.
Even if it’s to normalize prices worldwide one should note that Sony is “normalizing” up, when down in some areas would normalize prices just as well.
It’s not at all surprising for Sony to go up, they have always had this ego that their name on something justified higher prices. People paid it when there was a significant difference in quality of product and support. But that’s just not so in so many of Sony’s products.
If I remember rightly when Sony came into the market they did undercut both Canon and Nikon to try and buy market share which has helped drop the entire SLR markets prices? This has interned helped us all but I’m sure it has not helped any of the companies financially.
I don’t think Sony have too much choice if they want to stay viable I can’t see them dropping prices all over the world as Psycho points out below minimum wages in countires like UK and Australia are VERY high compared but they still need to pay for staff, services..etc..etc I think the main reason of this MIGHT be to help reduce so many grey imports into countries like UK and Australia as local shops at the moment just can’t compete with the much cheaper HK pricing, this means if it continues many camera shops locally will no longer be around and service will be even worse off than now which is not good so I’m personally ‘mainly’ happy with the move but do agree with you if they can afford to drop prices in places like UK/Australia is should definitely be done to bring prices closer to the US prices if possible.
Note that Sony is not just cameras, and I was talking about the Sony mentality across the board of their products. And in the case of cameras, Sony cheapened the build of the cameras they sold cheaper and then often did not lower the price that much.
Sony has been in interchangeable lens cameras far too short a time to make any assumptions that they will always be the “cheap” brand.
The cost of building the equipment does not occur in UK or Australia. Only a very minimal part of the cost of the equipment occurs in these countries. If one wants to get into labor costs then look at labor costs where the labor occurs.
Hay Walt, I’m sorry but I really love the feel of my A700 and don’t believe it could be referred to as a cheaply build camera? (perhaps there lower end A200’s you might be referring to? If that is the case, I agree with you but let’s also be honest the competition is the same and at that price point the entry level SLR camera’s are at these days I don’t think we can expect exceptional quality?) I think prices have dropped substantially to what they use to be and I’m not sure how you say quality has dropped but prices have not that much?
I don’t think Sony wants to be known as the ‘cheap’ brand by any means; however I do think they did lower the prices of the entire market when they did come in. I believe they did this to try and ‘buy’ some more market share and yes the other players also reacted and reduced prices so it’s been great for us consumers but if you want quality you still need to pay for it. I think Sony has been one of the players that has really started to pushed the camera market harder and we are really starting to get allot of bang for our buck and things are moving allot faster and new technologies are being tried and refined at the moment… In the long run this can only benefit us all as photographers.
In regards to the cost to manufacturer I totally agree there is not much cost involved BUT LOCAL charges such as staffing, warranty, repairer centres, importing, exporting faulty items, freight costs, logistics, distribution networks..etc..etc these are some of the things that are considerably more costly to run once the product hit our shores and is the killer compared to most of Asia countries (and the US for that matter which to be honest is cheaper than us as well)…
All the best!
The minimum wage in Hong Kong is HKD 28/hour. That’s USD 3.60, GBP 2.35 or EUR 2.84!!!
Crazy times, just to show how crazy wages are in Australia:
Australia: $15.5 per Hour, I believe (and might need to update this) UK/US is around the $8-9 per hour mark… Australia has some crazy labour cost issues, hence why it’s basically not possible to get much serviced in Australia prices are just too much! Any way HK at $3.60 you can see why many companies go overseas now days…. Crazy times…. Will be interesting to see how this all plays out.
Not only that, but I think the average wage for a moderately technical person, not necessarily trained is about $30 an hour here. Minimum wage really only applies to teenagers here, then it is up and up. If you offered an adult less than about $25 an hour they would tell you to bugger off!
I live in Hong Kong. And there is no such news yet. However, it is understandable why Sony would increase the price (but not by that much! 30%!!)I think it is because Chinese New Year is coming!! And many Chinese Mainlanders will come and buy goods in Hong Kong no matter how expensive they are. Recently, there are a lot of product shortage in Hong Kong due to the extravagant spending of Mainland Chinese including Milk powder! Flats..Yes expensive apartments! Jewellery! And electronic goods! and so on….
Even the price goes up in Feb…I assume it will go down again after the end of Chinese New Year holiday 🙂
The only electronic products that over-price in HK should be TV set. 55″ top series are selling HKD$45,000 = USD5,800
Maybe because of the rumors, the price HAS BEEN up ALREADY!!!
CRAZY!! some shops in HK have already pushed up the price!
I have been watching 50 1.4 and 24-70 recently.
A week ago, the cheapest offer is HK$2400 and $10700.
Now, it is 2690, (one asking for 2990, and he told me it has been discounted!!!) and 12990(some even asking for 15990!!!!!!!!!!!!!) HOW CRAZY!
It is the first time (I believe) the street shop is more expensive than the sony store!!
Is it because of Chinese new year holiday? hope that when they earn enough from the visitors, they will drop down the price …
If the price stays high.. I see no reason I should keep buying sony…