21 May 2008 - Following a thorough investigation of Price Comparison sites carried out by the DGCCRF, the French Trade and Standard Department (a branch of the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Employment), which reported that 37% of prices advertised on these websites were found to be incorrect, invalid or misleading for consumers, French State Secretary for the Digital Economy Eric Besson has recently called for a Code of Conduct to be finalised by the main players in this sector for the benefit of their end-users.
In March 2008, the average ASP for a 22-inch sold through the volume channel was 191 Euro. This average increased to 198 Euro in April and 200 Euro in May 2008 (see Chart 1). This is because though existing 22-inch models have decreased in price by an average of 10 Euro, models with higher ASPs have begun selling in the volume channel over the past two months, such as the M228WD from LG, the T220 from Samsung, the H22-1W from Fujitsu Siemens, as well as Acer's X222WD and Asus' VW222S.
According to such Code of Conduct, Price Comparison sites (used by over 50% of consumers before purchase, according to the DGCCRF report) should provide more comprehensive and transparent information to consumers on the prices advertised, on the actual price comparison methods used, as well as the type of relationship shared with their merchant partners.
CONTEXT is the leading European independent source of competitive IT pricing. For 25 years CONTEXT has been researching pricing of consumer and business IT products and services and offers monthly, weekly and daily price and promotion tracking.
CONTEXT PriceWatch reports cover a wide range of product categories, from PCs, to Printers, Consumables, Displays, Networks and Storage products, in the main European countries.
For more information on CONTEXT PriceWatch reports, please contact:
Eleonora Betancourt (PCs):
Tel: +44 (0)20 8394 7753
email: ebetancourt@contextworld.com
Danielle Cohen (PCs):
Tel: +44 (0)7798 833 690
email: dcohen@contextworld.com
Francisca Hernandez (Printers, Consumables, Displays):
Tel: +44 (0)20 8394 7729
email: fhernandez@contextworld.com
Alexandre Mesguich (Networks, Storage):
Tel: +44 (0)20 8394 7734
email: amesguich@contextworld.com
For more details on the DGCCRF investigation and findings, please visit: www.minefi.gouv.fr
More information on the recent announcement in the French media can be found at:
For more information on this press release, please contact Paola Troili on:
Tel: +44 (0)20 8394 7725
email: ptroili@contextworld.com
