数码产品领跑“开学经济”

Wang Yuanyuan

cheekywang@hotmail.com

Shopping is one of the biggest issues before a new semester begins and for university students, digital products are likely the most important items on their shopping lists for the new school year.

In the past, the three must-have products were mobile phones, MP3/4 players and laptops, but those once-hot items are no longer enough for today’s students. For most students, particularly those who just entered university, not only a mobile phone and laptop but also an iPad or tablet, digital camera and video game player are essential to their academic and social lives.

“Sales of our products have increased by 40 percent since July,” said a salesman surnamed Wu at a Sunion store in Luohu District. “Most of the buyers are students and parents.”

More gadgets mean higher costs.

“It is a lot of money. I spent 3,000 yuan (US$473) on clothes, bedding and daily necessities, 5,000 yuan on a mobile phone and 2,000 yuan on his first month of living expenses,” said Wu Qiuhua, the mother of a new student at Shenzhen University. “Including tuition and housing, I spent nearly 20,000 yuan this August.”

Many experts think the so-called “new semester economy” is caused by excessive care for children from doting parents.

“Most children have no siblings, so parents spoil them to make them happy,” said Hu Xiaowu, an associate professor at Nanjing University.

Many parents said children should be rewarded for entering university after studying hard for 12 years, and it’s their first time away from home, so they should get what they want to make them feel comfortable, Hu said.

“However, this thinking is wrong,” Hu added. “Parents should buy things for students according to their family’s financial situation. Otherwise, those from relatively poor families will also ask for things to compete with other students, and this is not good. That’s also the reason why some university students have even sold their kidneys for just an iPhone.”