NEW RADIOS SCARCE

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 79, 7 February 1944, Page 3

NEW RADIOS SCARCE

MANY PARTS OFF MARKET DEALERS’ DIFFICULTIES No new radio sets have been placed | on the market in New Zealand for eigh- i teen months, and during that period no domestic type of set has been manufactured in this country. As the importa- | tion of radio sets was prohibited some , five or six years ago, New Zealanders havfe depended since then on local manufacture. The normal supply of locally manufactured radio sets would amount to 40,000 a year. The radio trade is concerned about the situation which has arisen. At the moment second-hand sales arc the mainstay of the market. A few dealers state that they still have stocks and when they are sold out there will be no sets left. “Second-hand radio sets are fetching high prices,” said one dealer. “Many owners are selling privately at very high rates. Small sets are in great demand. The public would be well advised to acquire new sets while they are available. The price of new radio sets is controlled by the Price Tribunal, and in most cases they have a guaranteed life. All firms are obliged to obtain sets wherever they can for resale sec-ond-hand. There appears to be no control of second-hand prices. Moreover, the spare part situation is by no means satisfactory. Many second-hand sets are obtained by dealers for the parts they contain.”

Another dealer stated that the spare part situation was by no means hopeful. “A year ago the authorities told us that orders for parts were being pooled,” he said. “We all sent in our requirements. A huge order was then placed for the parts in the United States. After a delay of a year the only result was notification from the authorities that no parts would be available. We were then told that we could order direct in the usual manner. What hope have we after a delay of a year, when the authorities have already failed in the same market?”

In addition to a scarcity ot new sets and high prices for second-hand sets, many components are off the market. Certain types of valves are not obtainable. Valve manufacturers overseas are only permitted to manufacture a limited number of types. “Dealers just have to adapt existing radio sets to those types,” said one representative. “It often means partially rewiring the set. There is no firm in New Zealand which has set out to manufacture radio parts for the trade! One firm or perhaps two manufacture parts for their own use ,but that is the sum total of the spare part position in this country.”

Radio set owners would be well advised to treat their sets with considerate care. The situation does not appear likely to improve, judging by the opinion of those with experience of the radio trade. Sets left running when nobody is listening wear out valves to no purpose. Turning down the strength does not reduce the wear and tear. Indeed,. the habit of using the set as a background noise in the home merely brings nearer the day when replacement will become necessary without having obtained 100 per cent, listening service from the radio.