THE economic storm clouds gathering in other parts of the world have not dampened Singaporeans' appetite for buying tech gizmos, with sales of big-ticket gadgets climbing to new heights in the first six months of this year.

According to the latest reports from research firm GfK Asia, mid-year retail sales of most high-end IT and electronics goods showed a marked improvement from 2007. GfK's study covered PCs, monitors and printers, as well as audio-visual products like TVs and video cameras.

'Singaporean consumers are extremely savvy and are keeping their eye on the economy, but because Singapore is not feeling any real symptoms such as increased jobless rates or a property crisis, retailers are not seeing a reduction in spending. In fact, Singapore retail results for the first half of 2008 showed an increase in spending over most product categories,' said Lee Risk, a director with GfK Asia.

Two major technology trade fairs - the IT Show and PC Show - took place in the first half of 2008 with hundreds of thousands of Singaporeans thronging the halls of the Suntec Convention Centre to snap up the best gadget bargains. The curtain for Singapore's annual discount shopping fiesta, the Great Singapore Sale, was also raised towards the end of May.

In the local PC segment, sales of desktops and notebooks soared to over 140,000 units, up 34 per cent from the same period last year. This translated to a total value of over US$170 million, a 13 per cent improvement over 2007.

Laptops continue to account for the lion's share of sales, with consumers snapping up 112,305 notebooks in the first six months compared to a tally of 28,500 desktops.

The Republic's percentage improvement in overall PC sales volume was the second-highest across the eight Asian countries that were concurrently tracked by GfK. Vietnam came in first at 53 per cent, while third-placed Hong Kong registered a 26 per cent gain.

Sales of computer monitors however, were down 32 per cent at 36,500 units in the first half of 2008, while single-function printers also fell 15 per cent to 38,000 units. Multi-function printers that allow users to print, scan and fax, continue to find favour with Singaporeans, with mid-year sales volume rising marginally by 3 per cent to hit 57,000.

In the digital camera market, both point-and-shoot compact cameras and DSLRs (digital single reflex lens) registered an improvement from last year, GfK said. Half-year sales in the compact category were up 3 per cent at 225,000 units, while higher-end DSLRs soared 26 per cent to 25,000 units.

On the consumer electronics front, GfK reported sizzling sales for high-definition (HD) video cameras and LCD TVs. Some 4,000 full HD camcorders flew off retail shelves in the first six months of this year, doubling last year's sales record.

LCD TVs sales recorded a 29 per cent jump to 140,000 units, fuelled largely by plummeting prices and aggressive promotions from major retailers. Sales of standard CRT TVs also increased 12 per cent to 171,000 units, while plasma televisions registered a 20 per cent drop to 10,000 units.

'The increases we are seeing in retail sales in Singapore are with high-end IT and consumer electronics goods such as full HD camcorders, desktops and laptops, all items with an average ticket price of well over US$1,000,' Mr Lee told BizIT.

'This shows that consumers are certainly spending. These big-ticket discretionary purchases are first to be affected when the economy slows, and our mid-year results paint a very strong picture of the strength of the local economy,' he added.

Beyond Singapore, consumers across other Asian countries are also not tightening their purse strings as far as IT products are concerned. GfK's research around PCs, monitors and single-function printers was conducted in nine markets including Indonesia, Vietnam, China, Australia and Thailand.

PC sales volume across all these countries increased by 19 per cent from last year to reach 8.7 million units. Mirroring Singapore's trend, monitor sales in Asia dipped by 2 per cent to 1.4 million units, while single-function printers declined by 7 per cent to 2.2 million units.

This downswing is offset by an increase in multi-function printer sales, which showed a 10 per cent increase in volume to 1.7 million units across seven places in Asia - China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Australia. Indonesia and Vietnam were not included in GfK's multifunction printer research.

This story was first published in The Business Times on 11 August 2008.