Hi, maybe a stupid question, but I decided to learn more about economics during Golden Week from people on reddit if you are so kind to explain.
Also, no idea what flair to put.
So, my question is mostly about things(virtual or not) imported here.
So I did a case study on the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra simply because I stumbled across an add for it.
Germany – 1500€ (the economy who just surpassed Japan’s economy) – affordable if you really want to save for a good phone
My home country of Romania – a bit shy of 1300€ (weaker economy) – not affordable as a middle class unless you compromise on the summer trip
Japan with the yen at 167 to the Euro – a bit over 1200€ – again, if you really want it, you can get it.
Now this is just an example, Idk if it is the same for maybe laptops or heck even foreign cars. I know it is also the case for gacha games though incidentally. But maybe we can stick to the Samsung example to make it easy to understand.
So my question is, how does this work? I mean, a Korean company is selling the product at a price for resellers from other countries. I doubt the price going out of Korea is different based on the country.
Sure a reseller in Germany asks for more because people can afford more and the cost of living there is high, but then even a poorer country asks for a bit more than Japan.
And with the weakening yen, that same Samsung will one day be even cheaper.
Japanese products being cheap is a logical thing, but I don’t understand those from outside. They do get more expensive bit by bit, but not at the pace the yen is plummeting.
I was scared that with the yen going down, making a big purchase woth yen will become impossible in like a year from now, but it doesn’t really seem to be the case. At least not to that extent.
Can someone dumb it down for me a little? Maybe this will also calm the masses a bit if there is a proper explanation.
I am guessing it has something to do with the strong economy, but I don’t understand how it works.
Thanks!
by Radusili