The harsh economic situation and the scarcity of foreign exchange has set back the country by kilometers, as prices of some imported goods have hit the roof in recent times. Sales of mobile phones, laptop/desktop computers and other related electronic gadgets have been seriously affected.
In recent times, a whole lot of foreign products have flooded the market as Nigerians now prefer to buy cheap and affordable gadgets instead of the regular ones they are used to, mobile phones such as Blackberry, Infinix, Samsung, Nokia, Apple Iphone and LG.
ENCOMIUM Weekly spoke with some dealers at the Computer Village, Ikeja, Lagos and here are their responses…
SAMUEL OZAKWE (Excel Mobile Phones Store)
Sales of our products here have been partially affected. People now prefer to purchase cheap mobile phones that serve the same function as the expensive ones. There is cut throat competition in the market today. Mobile phone manufacturing companies now bring their products to Nigeria, especially from China.
They are seen everywhere these days. Before I sell a Samsung or Iphone, 10 customers would have purchased products like Infinix, Tecno and others.
Products like Apple Iphone, Samsung, HTC are good and expensive even Blackberry. But people are not really buying them as they now prefer cheap ones.
KELECHI NNAMDI (Ken Mobile Phones)
Mobile phones are electronic gadgets which people can’t stop buying. We are still enjoying our usual sales here but people now have more passion for new ones because they are relatively cheap. I can recall I bought products like Fly mobile, Morata, Gionee, etc, but they are all sold out now.
Meanwhile, few people are coming for the expensive ones. I have taken my time to study the market. So, what I do here now is to order for more cheap mobile phones with good functions and less of the expensive ones. I believe the rise in inflation affected the products as some are rapidly increasing in price daily. But I have been able to cope with the market structure.
MRS. DOLAPO (The Best Nig. Ltd.)
The increase in inflation has had some bad effect on the prices of mobile phones and computers. Since the crash of naira against the dollar at the parallel market, some distributors stopped supplying the phones which shut the prices up.
Now, people are adjusting values of their gadgets as many now prefer fairly used mobile phones and laptop computers just because of the increase in the price of new ones. Now, we see a lot of new manufacturer of laptops and mobile phones in the market which people now prefer.
Here, the cheapest laptop you can get is N30,000 which is Dell. Others are more expensive. I believe once the economy is balance, prices of products would gradually decrease.
BRIGHT UZOH (Bright Mobile Phone & Accessory Store)
Sales of mobile phones and accessories have gradually reduced due to the high inflation. Mobile phones and accessories are now costly compared to their prices last year. Here, we bring our products from China and this has in one way or the other helped us because we no longer buy in dollars.
These days, we have a lot of products in stock. So, customers will be able to choose according to their budget. Most buyers now prefer less expensive products, they go for fairly used. Even mobile phone accessories are expensive. Screen of Apple Iphone and Samsung is not less than N18,000 here.
PRICE OF PHONES
Price range of Blackberry phones
Blackberry Z10: N47,000 – N49,500
Blackberry Leap: N57,000 – N60,000
Blackberry Passport: N122,000 – N125,000
Blackberry Passport (Silver Edition): N147,000 – N150,000
Blackberry Classic: N98,500 – N102,000
Blackberry Z3: N33,000 – N35,500
Blackberry 9983 Porsche 3: N245,000 – N252,500
Blackberry Q5 (White): N35,000 – N38,000
Blackberry Q5 (Black): N31,000 – N33,000
Blackberry Q10 (White): N46,000 – N48,850
Blackberry Z30: N64,000 – N68,000
Blackberry Priv (Android): N210,000 – N213,000
Price Range Of Nokia Phones
Nokia Lumia 730 Dual SIM: N47,500 – N50,000
Nokia Lumia 620: N26,000 – N28,500
Nokia X2 (Android): N20,000 – N22,000
Nokia Lumia 925: N59,000 – N61,000
Nokia Lumia 920: N40,000 – N42,000
Nokia Lumia 820: N23,000 – N25,000
Nokia Lumia 520: N19,500 – N21,000
Nokia Lumia 540: N27,000 – N29,500
Nokia 105 Dual Sim: N5,000 – N6,000
Nokia 220: N11,000 – N12,500
Nokia 130: N6,000 – N7,500
Nokia 215: N8,000 – N10,000
Price range of Infinix phones
Infinix Hot 2 X510 (2GB RAM): N25,500 – N27,350
Infinix Hot 2 X510 (1GB RAM): N20,000 – N24,000
Infinix Hot Note X551: N30,000 – N33,000
Infinix Zero 2: N40,000 – N42,000
Infinix Note 2: N39,000 – N46,000
Infinix Zero 3: N56,000 – N61,700
Price range of Tecno phones
Tecno Boom J5: N18,000 – N21,400
Tecno Boom J7: N20,000 – N23,000
Tecno Y5: N17,500 – N20,000
Tecno Y6: N22,000 – N24,000
Tecno Camon C8: N32,000 – N34,000
Tecno Camon C5: N27,000 – N30,000
Tecno L5: N20,000 – N21,500
Tecno Phantom 5: N90,000 – N95,000
Tecno Winpad 10: N60,000 – N62,000
Tecno 7C Pro: N26,000 – N27,500
Price range of Samsung phones
Samsung Galaxy Note 5: N190,000 – N195,000
Samsung J7: N63,000 – N65,000
Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+: N220,000 – N225,000
Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge: N180,000 – N184,000
Samsung Galaxy S6: N143,000 – N145,000
Samsung Galaxy Tab S2: N160,000 – N164,000
Samsung Galaxy J5: N51,500 – N53,500
Samsung Galaxy J7: N59,000 – N62,000
Samsung Galaxy J1: N22,000 – N25,000
Samsung Galaxy A7: N128,000 – N132,000
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge: N230,000 – N232,000
Price range of HTC phones
HTC ONE M8: N97,000 – N101,000
HTC ONE M9: N136,000 – N140,000
HTC Desire 820: N81,500 – N86,000
HTC Desire 500: N40,000 – N42,500
HTC Desire Eye E1: N92,500 – N94,000
HTC ONE E9+: N112,000 – N115,000
HTC Desire 816G: N59,000 – N64,000
Price range of Apple iPhone
Apple iPhone 6 (128GB Storage): N202,000 – N205,000
Apple iPhone 6 (16GB Storage): N172,500 – N174,000
Apple iPhone 6 (64GB Storage): N182,000 – N186,000
Apple iPhone 6 Plus (128GB Storage): N195,000 – N200,000
Apple iPhone 6S (128GB Storage): N300,000 – N307,000
Apple iPhone 6S (64GB Storage): N188,000 – N192,000
Apple iPhone 6S Plus: N305,00 – N307,000
Apple iPad Mini 4: N180,000 – N185,000
-OLUWAFEMI SOEWU