I need not point out the current economic climate to any one of you; the news is bombarded with stories highlighting the latest business failure, another stage in the economic down turn, and how it’s getting frightfully worse. Then, Mr. Darling the UK’s Chancellor for the Exchequer announced yet another Government attempt to revitalise our spending… But will it work?
Now if you’ve ever read one of my rants before, you may be aware that I’m hung up on mainly two things.
The first being the lack of any originality in the Mobile sector (but I won’t go into that now), and secondly, price.
I’m a happy student; I live at home with my Mum, thanks to Ewan I have a job; but I also have quite a lot of expenditure. I fund all my school-books (and the price of them is astonishing), I pay for my own internet; I pay for all my socialising, my mobile, clothes and all the general stuff. Okay, I don’t have a mortgage to pay off; but even so, I’ve had to put off buying myself a car, and getting driving lessons because I simply cannot afford to be spending that much.
Well, I suppose that’s okay. At least I know I have my head screwed on, and I’m aware of my own financial limits. But even saying that, as I’ve mentioned before I really want a new phone – in fact I’ve been looking for something since the summer.
So it a two and half percent tax cut going to affect me buying myself a car, driving lessons, or even a mobile phone at the moment?
Simply, it’s a no.
Now, it’s not that I can’t afford it (because honestly, I can); the point being I know firstly I’m being cheated by mobile manufacturers. The clever plans to get you to think you’re buying into the latest technology to only find a month or so later the same company has released a better mobile, is just a joke.
Secondly, the amount of money I’m prepared to spend on a mobile is around £100, my absolute limit would have to be £120. Even so, two and half percent off of that is only a difference of £3! Now, even with my own self-admitted tightness when it comes to money, three pounds is hardly a noticeable difference now, is it?
Finally, I can happily predict that we’ll see lets say, some interesting sales in the near future. Well, this a blind guess, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t happen (and I don’t mean the normal January sales), I’m guessing there’ll be price reductions, sales, and attempts to move stock out of the back of the shop.
I’m saying this as a seventeen year old that has a job. Quite a few of my friends, also of the same age, in full time education in Sixth Form; who don’t have jobs. They rely on the menial amounts that their parents will spare them each week (which generally gets wasted on booze-ups at the weekend or something); and leaves them with nothing.
In fact, even just trying to get a new top from Top Shop takes a couple of weeks of saving, so think of how long it would take to get a mobile?
So do I think that Mr. Darling is going to spruce up the “young†people of England to be spending more? Certainly not, and I don’t see that this is going to affect the mobile market in any way whatsoever.
Then again, I may be wrong, and two and half a percent will make the world of difference; but if anyone was to work out their actual savings that they’re making by this VAT change, then I’m sure you may well find that it’s not a lot… A couple of pounds at the most!
Send any queries, e-mails or anything to Samantha@mobileindustryreview.com
Hi Samantha.
Well said – in real terms it's simply not gioing to make any difference whatsoever unless you buy a “big ticket” item, like a car or new kitchen etc…
In my life, the VAT cut is just about useless. I calculated that my normal weekly shop at my local supermarket has dropped by £1.25! Thats not going to stimulate me to restart the ecomony by spending large on goods!
It's not all bad though, my INQ1 that I will buy in the next few days has dropped by almost £2! Now maybe if I spent that extra £2 at Wollworths* I might save them too……….
Cheers for now,
Trevor.
* For those overseas readers Woolworths is a UK shop that has just gone into administration, and is on the verge of collapse.
Not only is it going to not make any difference, it will actually make things worse, given the U.K. government is operating at a deficit like the U.S. is.
the VAT cut is just about useless. I calculated that my normal weekly shop at my local supermarket has dropped by £1.25! Thats not going to stimulate me to restart the ecomony by spending large on good