US 2nd Only to Hong Kong as World’s Cheapest Place for Electronics

Only Hong Kong is less immune than the U.S. among 50 countries to consumer tech price inflation from global supply chain bottlenecks and component shortages, a Grover comparative price analysis found. The U.K. consumer tech rental company launched its Electronics Price Index 2021 and compared the prices of popular electronics around the world in September and October “in the context of ongoing shortages and global supply chain issues,” emailed a spokesperson. “As we approach Black Friday and the festive season, the study shines a light on how current disruptions to supply chains, currency volatility and chip shortages are affecting the cost and availability of popular electronics,” he said. The study found Argentina is the most expensive country to buy electronics, with its pricing deviating 67.34% above the median value of all prices in the data set. Hong Kong offers the cheapest electronic items, with costs averaging 16.46% below the median, followed by the U.S. (14.97% below the median). Of all the electronics goods in the study, the PlayStation 5 is “the worst impacted by global supply shortages, with availability in only 12 out of 50 countries in brick-and-mortar stores and 18 out of 50 on e-commerce platforms,” said Grover. The company “witnessed first-hand how the pandemic caused disruptions to the availability of electronic goods globally,” it said. “We therefore decided to investigate the cost of some of the world’s most in-demand electronics to better understand how taxes, supply chain issues, currency exchange rates, and brand pricing have affected the retail cost of electronic goods in different countries. Moreover, we felt it was necessary to conduct this study not only to compare the difference in prices around the world, but to monitor the growing issue of global inflation.” Grover bills itself as the global leader in consumer tech rentals, enabling people to subscribe to tech products monthly instead of buying them. The platform launched in the U.S. last month, hiring former Uber executive Andrew Draft as its vice president-U.S. general manager.