Global: Are consumers noticing a significant increase in prices of tech and telecom services?
The pandemic kicked off an increase in demand for TVs, laptops, and tablets as much of the world settled into an enforced at-home experience. But it also set into motion a shortage of raw materials like semiconductor chips, contributing to an increase in costs. YouGov conducted a survey across 18 markets asking consumers in which sectors they’ve noticed a significant increase in product prices over the past six months.
Results from this survey indicate that a majority of global consumers (74%) find that the cost of food has increased significantly over the past six months and nearly half say the same about household products (47%). Roughly a third of consumers have noticed an increase in the cost of cars (33%) while a third also say that electronics (31%) cost more now. Consumers are least likely to have noticed significant increases in the cost of telecoms services; nevertheless, one in five (22%) have still seen a jump in prices.
Prices of electronic products
India (56%), Mexico (49%), UAE (44%) and Poland (42%) take the top four spots among all 18 markets where consumers have noticed a significant increase in the cost of tech products. These same markets also led in a separate analysis of clothing and beauty product price increases. Denmark and Sweden also remain the least likely markets to have noticed an increase in prices of electronic products (15% each).
Around a third of consumers in Canada (32%) and US (30%) indicate that they’ve noticed a surge in the costs of cell phones, laptops and TVs among others. However, in the European region, Spaniards (31%) are as likely as global respondents to say tech products now cost much more than they did six months ago. In France and Italy around a quarter of consumers have registered a big jump in the price of electronic goods. The figure falls to around two in ten consumers in Great Britain (22%), followed by one in five Germans (20%).
Price of telecoms services
Less than a quarter of global consumers (22%) say they’ve seen prices of telecom services rise significantly. The recent price hike by broadband providers might be the reason why Great Britain is the only market where consumers are more likely to say they’ve noticed a bigger price rise in telecom services (26%) than tech products (22%).
The Asian markets are divided in their opinion. Urban Indians are more than twice as likely (48%) as global respondents to say they've noticed that telecom companies are now charging more for their services. That share is halved in Indonesia (28%) and Singapore (21%), where the views align with the global audience. The impact seems more limited in China (13%) and Hong Kong (15%) which registered slightly over one in ten consumers.
While nearly two in five urban Mexicans (42%) also confirm they’ve noticed a price surge, that share is nearly halved among their North American neighbors. Consumers in Canada (24%) and US (18%) are less likely to have noticed a price surge in telecoms services.
Denmark is the only country in all 18 surveyed markets where fewer than one in ten consumers (7%) saying they’ve seen prices of telecoms services surge in the past six months.
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Methodology: The data is based on the interviews of adults aged 18 and over in 18 markets with sample sizes varying between 514 and 2036 for each market. All interviews were conducted online in March 2022. Data from each market uses a nationally representative sample apart from Mexico and India, which use urban representative samples, and Indonesia and Hong Kong, which use online representative samples.