New laptops and all-in-one desktop computers being sold through electronics shopping centers in Pyongyang are all the rage among the city’s consumers, Daily NK has learned.
“On Mar. 13, electronics shopping centers in central Pyongyang began stocking and selling a large number of ‘Blue Sky 3.0’ computers manufactured by the Phurun Hanul [Blue Sky] Electronics Company,” a reporting partner in Pyongyang told Daily NK on Tuesday, speaking on condition of anonymity due to security concerns.
Pyongyang’s electronics shopping centers, similar to techno marts in South Korea, have been promoting the devices as being the “the highest in quality at the lowest prices,” and the current stock of Blue Sky 3.0 notebook and desktop-style computers has attracted a great deal of attention from consumers.
“Last summer, the Blue Sky Electronics Company imported components and storage technology from China and started producing devices equipped with these improved components in December. The new devices are much faster than the ones Blue Sky first produced back in 2015,” the reporting partner explained.
“Now, the sales points are promoting the new Blue Sky brand notebook and desktop computers as their best computers, and they’ve become the most popular computers [among North Koreans].”
With graduations in March and the new school season beginning, the recent launch of the computers appears timed to take advantage of the seasonal swell in demand for electronics and may be a sales tactic designed to absorb people’s foreign currency.
News about Blue Sky 3.0 notebook and desktop computers for sale is spreading quickly through the capital, with Pyongyang university undergraduate and graduate students along with researchers showing particular interest.
According to the reporting partner, the customer-favorite Blue Sky 3.0 16-inch screen notebook computer sold through sales points in Pyongyang costs USD 1,200. The computer comes with a battery, charger, wireless mouse, mousepad, bag, a flashlight, HDMI cable, and LAN cable.
The Blue Sky 3.0 desktop computer is currently being sold for USD 800, but the price is reported to be a bit higher in Nampo and other cities nearby Pyongyang due to transportation costs.
In 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, electronics stores in Chongjin (North Hamgyong Province) and Hyesan (Yanggang Province) had sold Blue Sky brand notebook and desktop computers for RMB 3,500 (around USD 513) and RMB 1,700 (around USD 249), respectively.
Even adjusting for the improved performance, these new computers are more than double the price compared to four years ago. Despite this, the reporting partner said that there are so many people in Pyongyang who want to buy the computers there is not enough inventory leftover to send to vendors in other cities.
Many young people in Pyongyang who have already bought the new Blue Sky 3.0 computers have reviewed the devices favorably, remarking that there is an obvious improvement in computing speed.
“Young college students, researchers, and parents whose children have just graduated high school and passed the entrance exam to get into a university in Pyongyang are beginning to trust North Korean-made computers,” the reporting partner said. “Now we’re seeing people rush to buy the computers before they sell out entirely.”
Translated by Rose Adams. Edited by Robert Lauler.
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