154th: PC Show Shows NO RECESSION!

[makapaaa]

<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>PC Show climbs to new heights
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Chua Hian Hou
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Optimism over the state of the economy sent thousands of eager consumers to the PC Show at the Suntec City Convention Centre yesterday. Many expected to hunt down bargains, as it was also the last day of the tech fair, when vendors usually go all out to secure sales. -- ST PHOTO: SAMUEL HE
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->THE four-day PC Show pulled in a record 1.13 million visitors, as Singapore's consumer confidence surged in the wake of news of 'green shoots', that the global economic crisis might have bottomed out and could be on the mend.
Last year, before the economy began its plunge, 1.1 million people visited the event, Singapore's longest-running consumer technology event.
Consumer spending at the show could even surpass last year's take of $51.7 million. As at 6pm last night, three hours before the close of the show, exhibitors had reported receipts of more than $48 million.
PC Show organiser Lines Exposition and Management Services project manager Gillian Loh said that she was confident 'we can top last year's figure'.
'A lot of people make their purchases in the last few hours, after they have gone around and compared all the prices.'
The show, she said, had received a boost from recovering consumer confidence here.
The belief that the worst was over stirred consumers out of their spending stupor and into the fair, spread out over multiple floors of the Suntec Convention Centre.
Foresight Marketing, which launched its iNo mobile phone at the fair, saw 'incredible' interest in the device, said the firm's marketing executive Alex Hui.
The phone, which is designed for the elderly and for younger users, features buttons at least three times bigger than those of typical mobile phones as well as a special SOS button that sends out an emergency call and text messages to four numbers when it is pressed.
One iNo buyer was first-time show-goer, retiree Benjamin Tan, 61.
'The crowd is very bad, but I got what I wanted,' he said.
Besides the phone, he also picked up a $2,000 Lenovo notebook computer, while his 15-year-old grandson John Tan - there to 'help grandpa carry stuff' - got himself some gaming accessories 'on impulse', he said with a laugh. 'Now is the time to buy before retailers raise prices. The stock and property market are both up, which means retailers will soon follow suit,' said the elder Mr Tan.

 

[jimmyfallon]

Singapore Retail Sales Fall Most Since 1999 as Car Sales Slump
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By Shamim Adam

June 15 (Bloomberg) -- Singapore’s retail sales fell the most in more than ten years in April as rising unemployment and the nation’s deepest economic slump in more than four decades led consumers to buy fewer cars and household equipment.

The retail sales index dropped 11.7 percent from a year earlier, after sliding a revised 7.2 percent in March, the Statistics Department said today. The median estimate of 11 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for an 8.1 percent decline. Adjusted for seasonal factors, sales fell 3.1 percent from March.

Singapore’s economy is forecast by the government to shrink as much as 9 percent this year, forcing companies to cut jobs and wages as demand slows. Visitor arrivals to the island have also dropped as the global slowdown hurts business and holiday travel, slashing revenue for hotels, retailers and restaurants.

“People are still wary about buying big-ticket items, and unemployment numbers show hiring is still pretty soft,” said David Cohen, head of Asian forecasting at Action Economics in Singapore. “Tourist arrivals have fallen and things will be slow in picking up.”

Singapore’s unemployment rate rose to 3.3 percent last quarter from 2.5 percent in the previous period, the Ministry of Manpower said today. Employers cut 12,760 jobs and total employment contracted for the first time in almost six years. Average wages fell 3.7 percent in the same period, the first drop in 6 1/2 years, the ministry said.

Vehicle sales fell 28.1 percent in April from the same month in 2008.

Purchases of apparel and footwear dropped 6.1 percent while sales of furniture and household equipment declined 11.2 percent from a year earlier. Sales at gas stations slipped 20.8 percent amid lower oil prices.

To contact the reporter on this story: Shamim Adam in Singapore at [email protected]

 

[liketogossip]

was last yr pc show oso four days? if it is, den the response quite gd considering the umemployment rate....