Tech experts decry increasing prices of laptops, accessories

Some technology enthusiasts have decried the increasing costs of purchasing laptops and its accessories.

The tech experts, in separate interviews in Lagos, said the high cost of laptops had greatly affected patronage.

Mr Austin Agbakor, the Chief Executive Officer, Software Shop Ltd., said the era of COVID-19 had popularised remote working, which had, in turn, increased demand for laptops.

“Many corporate institutions have been migrating their workforce to working remotely since the COVID-19 pandemic and it is likely that this trend is not going to stop soon. This has made laptops to be in high demand,” he said.

Agbakor said that the increased demand for laptops is, however, not accompanied by increase in its supply.

According to him, the unstable foreign exchange rate is responsible for making supply of laptops less than demand.

He said that in Nigeria, the unstable exchange rate is a factor that affects the cost of laptops which most dealers have to contend with and, which was making them run into losses.

“Inflation is our major problem and I believe some dealers may run into huge losses and indebtedness due to the unstable exchange rate.

“A dealer takes a product at the rate of N705 per dollar and sells at such rate with little interest only to go back and buy the same product at N805 per dollar. That is a major loss for the dealer. This is one of the major factors affecting cost of laptops,” he said.

Agbakor further highlighted cost of production of the laptops as another factor responsible for hike in its price.

He said that Nigeria does not produce computer components, rather it imports and as such, the cost of production and shipping was another factor.

Mr Oluwatosin Osoba, the Chief Executive Officer, QKIT Technologies, agreed that increased demand against supply, foreign exchange rate, inflation, and cost of import duties are factors affecting costs of laptop.

Osoba urged the government to urgently attend to encouraging local production of laptops and to also ensure a conducive environment for production to thrive.

He stressed that ensuring adequate supply of power for companies is a must if laptop buyers were to enjoy reduced or stable laptop price.

He noted that with the high cost of living and low earnings, patronage of laptops would continue to be greatly affected unless something is done to remedy the situation.

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