SA ranks 9th out of 50 for most expensive electronics

South Africa has the 9th most expensive electronics out of 50 countries in the Electronics Price Index 2021 compiled by Grover.com, a consumer electronics rental company. As first-hand observers of global electronics shortages since the pandemic, the company says, it decided to investigate further by using data to analyse how global supply chain bottlenecks and import tariffs have affected the availability and cost of electronics around the world.

On average, Argentina is the most expensive country to purchase electronics in the index, with a total deviation of 67.34% above the average cost of common electronic goods. Hong Kong offers the cheapest electronic items, with costs averaging at 16.46% below the median, followed by the USA and Indonesia.

Mainly due to the rise of the cryptocurrency industry, graphics cards record the highest deviation above the median price of any item, at 166.84% above average.

Of all the electronic 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.

“Although we took proactive measures to maintain our own stock, the severity of supply chain disruption had market-wide ramifications,” says Giacomo Dalle Vedove, Grover VP of international and growth. “Technology is ubiquitous within the modern world and will only increase in importance as further advances are made. We decided to conduct this study to draw attention to the fragility of current supply chains and in the hope that these issues do not become commonplace.”

The index began by selecting countries known for manufacturing electronic goods, countries that are home to major electronics brands and countries with high electronics ownership rates per capita. The researchers then recorded the price of popular electronics in each country, collecting data from the largest local e-commerce platforms and brick-and-mortar shops in order to gain an understanding of both markets.

Grover provided the following table from its research:

In instances where the same model of electronic item was unavailable, a deviation from the dataset median – the midpoint of the dataset – was calculated. In cases where supply chain shortages have significantly impacted the availability of certain electronic goods, such as the Sony PlayStation 5, the researchers listed the item as “sold out” so as not to allow price gouging to affect the outcome of the study.

Lastly, with the deviation from the dataset median calculated and the raw price data collected in local currencies, researchers converted all local currencies into EUR in order to achieve comparable data.  

The overall findings of the index allow for a direct comparison between the price of electronics in 50 countries around the world. It also reveals which countries have been most affected by supply chain shortages and import tariffs.

For more information on the research, visit https://www.grover.com/pr/electronics-price-index-usd