vegetaleb
I can't but be astonished day after day by the stup***y of most of the Lebanese companies.
They claim they are not selling but they keep doing monstrous errors because they put the wrong people in the marketing team.
Examples:
-LG Lebanon doesn't bring LG Urbane smart watches, these are very popular in Europe and US, why they don't bring them here? God knows
-Go Mobile the HTC dealer has a facebook page that they never use, is that so hard to copy/paste a youtube link to promote a product?
-M2 and Virgin bring Chinese no name products at 20$ and price them at 80-150$
-Many companies are still selling stuff at 2x, 3x even 4x the original price like if internet doesn't exist and we are too lazy to check price online
-Sony Lebanon decided to not bring the Mobile department!! So not only they don't bring mobile phones but also any accessories like smartband and smartwatch...
I am sorry but all these companies are hiring the wrong people in the marketing positions, instead of taking people who just studied marketing they must choose them fan of the products too so they KNOW what they are selling instead of guessing. They should take people like me instead of a sexy bomb girl who show her boobs during the job interview and doesn't know the difference between a smartphone and a handy!!
Salloum
Most of the things you mentioned probably have a good reason. Sony for example, their phones aren't that popular in Lebanon so why stock smartwatches? Same for LG, their market isn't that strong in Lebanon. Virgin and M2 sell so little in volume that they have to have a huge margin on their products to stay open - some people will gladly pay that much, not everyone checks the prices of things online. I agree with you that Gomobile is a horrible company though.
vegetaleb
I worked with Sony, they have one manager per category, meaning 1 of them manage the TVs department, another the PS3-PS4...sadly none of them is as passionate as we geeks are, they learn overtime the techs of each device and it's not enough to be the perfect person for that. They brought Sony mobiles but they NEVER did a single ad on TV or newspaper, while they have a good budget knowing they are Fattal. If they stopped bringing Sony Mobile it's because the sales were bad not because of the phones themselves but because of bad local marketing.
I am sorry but even in Lebanon if you don't use aggressive marketing you won't sell, look at CTC and samsung mobiles, they are selling tons of phones because they use all social medias, billboards,newspapers,showrooms,TV channels...
Add to that the fact that when a company want to be the sole distributor of a so important brand like LG in the whole country, they HAVE to bring all the products from this brand unless they are not distributed in the EMEA region, the don't have to bring large volume if they are afraid of bad sales, they can just bring a small quantity and test the market. They never tested the Lebanese market for the LG smart watches so how they ''guessed'' it will not sale at all?
Salloum
Well Sony phones in the world in general aren't very popular at all. I think they have something like 1% marketshare. I can't blame Fattal for not investing large sums to try to compete with CTC on the local level when Samsung is owning Sony worldwide. For the record, CTC are making huge sales because of super competitive pricing (close to Amhaz prices!) and because Samsung phones are just popular in general. Their marketing helps a lot, but that is the main reason. You're right about the Urbane watches, they didn't try, but anyway the Gear S2 Classic is a fantastic watch, much superior to the Urbane so don't feel bad
rolf
I just want to say, the problem of "the right person in the wrong place" is something I've seen in many companies, actually most if not all of the companies I worked at, at various degrees. For example salesmen would be put in managerial positions because they can sell the product or the company to clients, but the result is lack of ethics in the workspace and unreliable software quality, when they apply their sales skill at the wrong place.
Also one other thing I'd like to comment on is this habit (it seems) to attach "in Lebanon" to whatever negative topic that is being discussed. I wonder how many stop and think why "in Lebanon" and not in more "advanced" places in world? Is Lebanon so special? It just seems to be a de-facto thing but - in fact - can anyone prove that such things happen more in Lebanon than in other places?
vegetaleb wroteThey should take people like me instead of a sexy bomb girl who show her boobs during the job interview and doesn't know the difference between a smartphone and a handy!!
Totally agreed, and if you want to see that phenomenon in different flavours and languages all you have to do is travel to another country.
vegetaleb
You are taking things too subjective, if you prefer gear s2 over Urbane it's your taste, but many people worldwide preferred the Urbane because it has a better design close to classic watches and it's 100% Android Wear.
Same goes for Sony smartphones, specially in Lebanon they always had many loyal followers since the SE days, I know that because I was one of them, can you say the Z5 Premium is a bad phone BTW?
hussam
vegetaleb wrote-Go Mobile the HTC dealer has a facebook page that they never use, is that so hard to copy/paste a youtube link to promote a product?
I doubt those are legitimate HTC dealers. A lot of companies in Lebanon masquerade as contracted resellers.
M2 sells a lot of refurbished items (used items placed in new boxes).
Salloum
vegetaleb wrotecan you say the Z5 Premium is a bad phone BTW?
The Z5 Premium is a great phone as are other Sony phones, I wasn't questioning their quality, but they just aren't popular. People don't seem to like them in general. I think the "Omnibalance" design has to go away, it's too boxy and it's getting old. People like smooth curves like on the One A9 or iPhone with aluminum finishing.
Georges00
As far as I know, Sony did not bring the Mobile division to Lebanon because if high prices and no market for it.
Thing is, "geeks" in Lebanon are not a market worth the investment. If they bring the Urbane and don't sell it, they have to make that money back somehow.
Lebanese people are the Apple or Samsung type. They think these are the only phones that are worth buying.
And while we're at it, we have many awesome brands missing, not just phones. To name a few: Asus (Phones), Mi, ASRock, Corsair, Audio Technica, Zowie...
As much as I would love to be able to be able to buy every item in the country, the market as it is right now does not allow it.
That still does not justify rip off prices like Virgin.
One more thing, prices you see online are everyday prices. I lived in canada for around 5 months. They have new offers every week, you get flyers weekly to your house. You can get 400$ off on a laptop!
Die_Kapitan
Georges00 wroteAnd while we're at it, we have many awesome brands missing, not just phones. To name a few: Asus (Phones), Mi, ASRock, Corsair, Audio Technica, Zowie...
Don't forget Sennheiser, SteelSeries and Sapphire!
vegetaleb
Georges00 wroteAs far as I know, Sony did not bring the Mobile division to Lebanon because if high prices and no market for it.
Thing is, "geeks" in Lebanon are not a market worth the investment. If they bring the Urbane and don't sell it, they have to make that money back somehow.
Lebanese people are the Apple or Samsung type. They think these are the only phones that are worth buying.
And while we're at it, we have many awesome brands missing, not just phones. To name a few: Asus (Phones), Mi, ASRock, Corsair, Audio Technica, Zowie...
As much as I would love to be able to be able to buy every item in the country, the market as it is right now does not allow it.
That still does not justify rip off prices like Virgin.
One more thing, prices you see online are everyday prices. I lived in canada for around 5 months. They have new offers every week, you get flyers weekly to your house. You can get 400$ off on a laptop!
Yes they have crazy offers,they are selling the Moto 360 for 130$ at Bestbuy Canada, here when Amhaz was selling the 1st gen it was 340$.
BTW do you know someone coming from Canada soon?
Georges00
vegetaleb wroteYes they have crazy offers,they are selling the Moto 360 for 130$ at Bestbuy Canada, here when Amhaz was selling the 1st gen it was 340$.
BTW do you know someone coming from Canada soon?
Unfortunetaly, no not at the moment.
I think buying from the USA is cheaper because 1 usd = 1.31cad
And usually something that cost 300usd also cost 300cad but you would end up paying more.
Salloum
Georges00 wrotevegetaleb wroteYes they have crazy offers,they are selling the Moto 360 for 130$ at Bestbuy Canada, here when Amhaz was selling the 1st gen it was 340$.
BTW do you know someone coming from Canada soon?
Unfortunetaly, no not at the moment.
I think buying from the USA is cheaper because 1 usd = 1.31cad
And usually something that cost 300usd also cost 300cad but you would end up paying more.
Your logic is contradictory. If something costs 300 USD and 300 CAD, paying 300 CAD would be much better with this exchange rate.
NuclearVision
Salloum wroteGeorges00 wrotevegetaleb wroteYes they have crazy offers,they are selling the Moto 360 for 130$ at Bestbuy Canada, here when Amhaz was selling the 1st gen it was 340$.
BTW do you know someone coming from Canada soon?
Unfortunetaly, no not at the moment.
I think buying from the USA is cheaper because 1 usd = 1.31cad
And usually something that cost 300usd also cost 300cad but you would end up paying more.
Your logic is contradictory. If something costs 300 USD and 300 CAD, paying 300 CAD would be much better with this exchange rate.
Was thinking of the same thing.
300usd=300 usd
1 usd=1.3 cad
1 cad=1/1.3 cad
300 cad=300/1.3 usd=230 usd
So in canada, whatever it is, it costs 70 us dollars less.
Georges00
My bad then, sorry.
Everything was more expensive when I was there since it was the opposite. 1.3usd = 1cad.
vegetaleb
Yep it costs 170 Can $ so it's just 130 US $
Is Borderlinx working in Canada? I have one with a US address
vegetaleb
Went to supermarket yesterday and I was choked to see that most items prices increased in price by 25% to say the least compared to 3 months ago!
Again Lebanese importers complain about not selling while they keep increasing the prices like never before! The same facial cream that used to cost 5000LL is now 9000LL, a chewing gum box that used to cost 3500LL is now 5500LL, and that only in 3 months!!
It's not a simple raise of 250 or 500LL but 2000 to 4000LL per item, this is monstrous! Salaries are going down and prices are going up, I don't how much Lebanese can hold anymore before going into a revolution.
Why we talk about Lebanon? Because there are not a single control over importers crazy prices, nor government nor consumers lobby can stop them from increasing the prices without limits, in France for instance the government has strict controls over prices, in the US it's the different consumers lobbies...but here?
NuclearVision
one would need to work around 8 months to afford that chewing gum box.
You can choose to buy it or not to buy it, try different super markets usually there are ones with good prices, you could for instance buy your cosmetics from supermarket 1 and your food from sm2.
vegetaleb
Yep but the thing is: is it the supermarket fault that prices are so high or it's the importers?
rolf
What kind of chewing gum is that? Gold plated maybe?
Is it a single pack?
If it's a single pack then chewing gum has officially become more expensive in Lebanon than in London!
Fortunately (Or unfortunately) there are more things in life than chewing gum. Also it is impossible to live inside a chewing gum pack, so Beirut should still be cheaper overall.