Philips Hue confirms upcoming US price hikes are due to Trump tariffs

[midian182]

A hot potato: A lot of companies try to avoid blaming Trump's tariffs for any price increases, but not Philips Hue. It has notified customers of a price hike starting on July that is a direct result of the new import duties, and the products might become even more expensive in the future.

Parent company Signify told hueblog.com that its Philips Hue portfolio in the US will experience price hikes on July 1 as a "direct result of the tariffs."

This might not be the only increase. The company added that "Signify reserves the right to modify prices based on new or additional tariffs becoming effective in the future."

Philips Hue had alluded to the price hike earlier this month in marketing material. A promotional message warned that "Hurry, prices go up on July 1!" It also advised people to make purchases now to save money before the increase arrives.

How much the prices will go up won't be revealed until they take effect next week. Some newly introduced items give us an idea of what to expect, though. The new Hue Smart Button has remained at the same €21.99 price as its predecessor in Europe, where pricing has been around a 1:1 conversion for US amounts. But in the US, the button has gone from $25 to $33.

There's also the new $219.99 Hue Play Wall Washer light, which is around 10% more than the €200 EU version when currencies are converted.

Philips Hue's smart lights are already some of the most expensive you can buy. It'll be interesting to see how loyal its customers remain once the prices go up.

Signify placing the blame for the price increases squarely on the Trump tariffs is a contrast to most companies. In April, Amazon had planned to show exactly how much the duties would increase the cost of items on its Amazon Haul site, but the move brought public condemnation from the White House and led to Trump himself calling Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to discuss the matter. Unsurprisingly, the company backed down from its plan and claimed the idea never got beyond the discussion stage.

There was also a report in May that Apple could raise the price of its new iPhones this fall, though the company is keen to avoid blaming Trump's tariffs, instead citing new features as justification.

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Philips Hue confirms upcoming US price hikes are due to Trump tariffs

 

[amghwk]

All hail trump... At least, most americans chose him... Enjoy.

 

[toooooot]

Stop making everything in one country, you t****s. Furthermore, if you choose to anyways, at least make sure it is not a regime that will always be hostile toward us.

 

[m3diapers]

I don’t quite understand the appeal of this product—or RGB lighting in general. That said, I have a feeling these kinds of flashy, impractical items may start to fade out, especially as tariffs push consumers toward more thoughtful and responsible purchasing decisions.

 

[Axeia]

Well duh.
If things come from overseas the tariff is applied. The tariff has to be paid for by whoever ships it, whoever ships it raises prices by roughly the tariff amount. That price increase goes further up the chain all the way to the consumer.

This might be one of those areas that Trump is trying to bring back to the US. The type of manufacturing required for LED strips could be converted to be useful for warfare electronics I imagine. It's not like it would create a lot of jobs, it's all highly automated. It's not to lower prices (just would be more expensive to do in the UK). But if war happens and the US needs to quickly increase domestic production capabilities for military equipment a factory for tons of little chips and other electronics might be rather useful.

Realistically though, Philips just increases the price and customers can deal with it. They're already charging a hefty premium as they're the 'high end' option. If you're lucky they might eat some of the cost themselves but probably not.

 

[RudyBob]

I'm SO afraid

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Trump never ceases to impress me.

After years of ballaching about "taxes" this guy has somehow conned Republicans into not only accepting but championing tax increases on everyone to pay for tax cuts on the wealthy.

I don't agree with it, but I cannot help but look on in awe.

 

[The Talking Tech]

Another price hike, all thank to Trump-Dumb Economics.

 

[candle86]

I'm still trying to understand why you want a room to look like unicorn vomit in the first place

 

[candle86]

Trump never ceases to impress me.

After years of ballaching about "taxes" this guy has somehow conned Republicans into not only accepting but championing tax increases on everyone to pay for tax cuts on the wealthy.

I don't agree with it, but I cannot help but look on in awe.

It's not a tax, it's an investment in American industry, no tariff if it's made here, I'm choosing American

 

[GodisanAtheist]

It's not a tax, it's an investment in American industry, no tariff if it's made here, I'm choosing American

-I appreciate you proving my point.

 

[candle86]

-I appreciate you proving my point.

You're not proving the point you think you're proving. I'd rather support an American company than a Chinese company or a Mexican company or an Italian company. Why would I want those inferior products.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

You're not proving the point you think you're proving. I'd rather support an American company than a Chinese company or a Mexican company or an Italian company. Why would I want those inferior products.

-But you could always do that, you don't need to tax foreign goods to buy American.

Taxing foreign goods just means you think American companies are not competitive and make worse products that cost too much, and you need the gubmint to step in and level the field for them. Anti-consumer, and anti-American.

 

[candle86]

-But you could always do that, you don't need to tax foreign goods to buy American.

Taxing foreign goods just means you think American companies are not competitive and make worse products that cost too much, and you need the gubmint to step in and level the field for them. Anti-consumer, and anti-American.

No The tariff should be raised even higher to the point where it becomes an economical to use foreign labor to build products. I wouldn't mind saying an 8,000 or 80,000% tariff on India the Philippines China etc.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

No The tariff should be raised even higher to the point where it becomes an economical to use foreign labor to build products. I wouldn't mind saying an 8,000 or 80,000% tariff on India the Philippines China etc.

- Well I guess to make this argument fully circular I'll just post the original comment you were replying to in the first place again:

Trump never ceases to impress me.

After years of ballaching about "taxes" this guy has somehow conned Republicans into not only accepting but championing tax increases on everyone to pay for tax cuts on the wealthy.

I don't agree with it, but I cannot help but look on in awe.

 

[Greggs]

No The tariff should be raised even higher to the point where it becomes an economical to use foreign labor to build products. I wouldn't mind saying an 8,000 or 80,000% tariff on India the Philippines China etc.

The logical extension of this argument would be to stop trading with other countries. The same argument could be extended to an individual - why would I pay someone else to provide goods and services to me rather than just making and doing everything myself?

The other problem is the idea that government needs to step in and dictate how American consumers and businesses buy products. I'm not saying trade rules never have a purpose but they should be limited and for a specific purpose, the exception and not the rule.

The US economy was built on free and open global trade and the current system so hated by the far left and right was literally built by the USA to the advantage of the USA, At great success. The disadvantaging of the American worker and consumer has many causes but demonizing free trade is an easy distraction to keep Americans from demanding hard solutions to complex problems.

 

[candle86]

The logical extension of this argument would be to stop trading with other countries. The same argument could be extended to an individual - why would I pay someone else to provide goods and services to me rather than just making and doing everything myself?

The other problem is the idea that government needs to step in and dictate how American consumers and businesses buy products. I'm not saying trade rules never have a purpose but they should be limited and for a specific purpose, the exception and not the rule.

The US economy was built on free and open global trade and the current system so hated by the far left and right was literally built by the USA to the advantage of the USA, At great success. The disadvantaging of the American worker and consumer has many causes but demonizing free trade is an easy distraction to keep Americans from demanding hard solutions to complex problems.

except it was exploited by our enemies in China and yes China is our enemy, and we are now so reliant on China that they can hold us hostage by threatening to cut off access to things like minerals or microchips. If our supply lines rely on our enemy, then we have already lost any war.