Global HW & SW Up! 29th March 2014

[vfguy]

akuseru said:

vfguy said:
The rise in sales tax from 5% to 8% did prompt a lot of sales and special promotions before April 1st. While a 3% price hike on Vita might seem like small potatoes, there was just generally more store traffic and activity that week here in Japan.

Sofmap had a special PS4 display with a big sign about the impending price hike, for example.

That makes sense, and might be true.

However, while I was walking around shopping here in Tokyo, I did not see any more people out shopping at the malls/shops than I normally do on a usual Saturday/Sunday. I was down in Shinjuku, Ikebukuro, Ginza and Akihabara during the March 29th/30th weekend.

The Super Potato in Akiba was much more picked over than usual when I was there last week and the only explanation I could think of was the tax hike.

School children have also been on break for the last couple of weeks as the new school year started today.