Time to buy that camera, Brits: Your photo gear prices are expected to soar due to the Brexit vote

 

 

It's been a couple of weeks now since residents of the United Kingdom made a momentous decision to leave the European Union, and as the dust settles on the many ballots cast, the referendum's impact is beginning to be felt in a variety of ways. Perhaps the most startling of these has been the rapid decline of the pound on currency markets, and according to an article from Amateur Photographer, that plunge will likely soon cause a surge in camera prices -- perhaps even over the next few weeks.

Since the Brexit vote took place, the pound has fallen in value against the yen by some 15%, taking it back to levels not seen since late 2012 while in the aftermath of the 2008 recession, European debt crisis and subsequent austerity measures around Europe. And although the currency has yet to find its longer-term footing in the wake of the decision to leave the EU, that sudden shift in its value has made it relatively more expensive for companies to import their products into the UK.

Speaking to an analyst at Futuresource, Amateur Photographer was told to expect an increase in the cost of cameras on the order of some 5-10%, with lower-end models in particular likely to see noticeable price increases. A variety of retailers and other sources quoted in the piece have likewise suggested -- or in some cases already publicly announced -- price hikes of anywhere from 8 to 15%.

 

Just six months ago, one British pound was worth almost 175 yen. Today, the pound is flirting with the 130 yen mark, a level unseen since late 2012.
Chart courtesy of Google Finance; click for a live chart.

For the full story, British readers will want to hop on over to Amateur Photographer's article, and see if your favorite camera and photo gear brands or the stores which carry them have yet made any statement. And if you've been prepping for a purchase, the time to act might well be now -- hopefully just in time before those price hikes hit.

It seems pretty clear that the pound won't be returning to its previous form in the short term, and manufacturers and suppliers won't be able to swallow a dip in their profit margins indefinitely, so higher prices, it seems, are on the way for the UK. The only real questions at this point are when, and how much?

(British currency image courtesy of Mark Hodson Photos / Flickr; used under a Creative Commons CC-BY-2.0 license. Image has been modified from the original.)