Laptop sales soar as new semester approaches

Models pose with laptops at a discount store. / Yonhap

More parents want to buy their children a laptop computer as a gift ahead of the new school semester than any other item, online trading site Auction said on Tuesday.

According to a recent survey of some 57,000 members of the site, 47 percent said they wanted to buy a laptop as a start-of-the-semester present, a ritual that has become more popular in recent years.

Mobile phones came in second, with 25 percent of parents saying they wanted to give one to their children. Furniture was third with 19 percent, followed by bags at nine percent.

Auction saw laptop sales increase by 30 percent during the period between Jan. 1 and Jan. 26, on a year-on-year basis.

“In the past, laptops were considered to be a gift celebrating entrance into college. But the price of IT products, such as laptops and tablets, have recently become a lot cheaper,” an Auction official said. He added that the rise of digital education contents for elementary, middle and high school students has contributed to the surge in IT products sales.