China's Unlimited Appetite

Recently, I purchased a brand new laptop in Hong Kong. A 14' in HP at Fortress, the Hong-Kong version of Best Buy. The same laptop in the U.S. would retail for $100 USD less. When I wondered why, I mean all the laptops are made in China, a local told me, because of the unlimited demand in China. See, piracy and counterfeit is a huge issue in China. In Hong Kong, the legal and regulatory system is much sounder, creating a market where the consumer can trust what they buy in the stores (it's true, you can buy fake LV bags in major shopping centers in China). Hoards of people cross through into Hong Kong to purchase items in stores they can trust to be real, creating a huge influx of demand over the supply available in Hong Kong, marking up the prices. Even then, things are rarely in stock. My friends told me when you go into a Louis Vuitton store, almost everything is out of stock because of the mainland consumers just sweep through and purchases through. The same would be true for all the luxury brands. This is why Hong Kong can support over dozens of Louis Vuittons, Chanels, Gucci's, etc for a city with only a population of 8 million. There are very strict rules in Hong Kong when it comes to piracy so the consumers feel much more at ease here than in mainland China. That's not to say, however, that hoards of people won't go into mainland for the exact opposite reasons.