The disaster in Japan will cause shortage in electronic products all over the world. Major electronic factories in Japan like Sony, Panasonic and Canon were affected by the earthquake and tsunami. Sony reported losing 127,000 PS3 consoles due to the natural disaster. The price in China for the 120 GB PS3 went up by $30. iPad 2, which was already sold out when released a week ago, will be even tougher to find. 5 components for Apple’s hot seller comes from Japan and it’s guaranteed it will be even tougher to find. Over on eBay, the 64 gb iPad, which retails for $699, is going for as much as $1300. Canon camera lenses will also be harder to find. One of Canon’s lens factory was hit hard and there’s no official word from the camera giant what there next step will be. This might have affected the U.S. market already as I was about to purchase the new T3i DSLR from Amazon but the shipping status said 1 to 3 months. I had to order it from B &H where it’ll ship next week.
The electronic shortage is expected for at least 3 months but many analysts predict it’ll have a long term effect. Part of the reason for the long shortage is the aftershocks. There’s so many happening right now that companies don’t want to fix the factories until it completely stops. If you’re planning to buy an electronic product, I suggest buying it now before it’ll be like the iPad 2 and you’ll have to purchase it in the secondary market.
Source: MYCE, China Daily