As new traffic rules went into effect on Saturday, telecommunication-equipment stores saw a golden opportunity to rake in millions by selling earphones and related products.
Drivers and motorcycle riders caught talking on hand-held mobile phones while driving will be fined NT$3,000 and NT$1,000, respectively. Talking on hand-held cellphones is also banned while waiting at a traffic light or in a traffic jam.
Drivers and motorcycle riders eager to skirt the new regulations are purchasing earphones or other gadgets such as phone sets or phone clips.
Chen Yen-ling (
"Take August for example; we sold about 40 earphone kits for automobile drivers and motorcycle riders combined, a 30 percent increase over July and a 100 percent increase over June," she said.
Chen added that her store carried three major earphone packages: wired, wireless and those containing both.
Wired earphones cost between NT$350 and NT$600, depending on the place of manufacture.
Wireless earphones cost between NT$3,900 and NT$8,000. The Aurora brand kit containing both wired and wireless earphones, in addition to a phone set, costs NT$1,680 and is the most popular option with Chen's customers.
Another leading telecom-equipment store, Arcoa Communication Co (
"The total sales volume for August is two times that of June and we expect to see more growth in September," said Tang Shu-chen (
According to Tang, earphone prices at Arcoa stores for motorcycle riders range between NT$90 and NT$400. Those for automobile drivers vary from NT$100 to NT$6,000.
Hsu Kai-ti (
"It's so cool that I just couldn't resist it," he said. "I had intended to buy a wireless one, but none of them looked appealing to me."
Hsu added that money is not a concern to him because, "What matters is style."
Unlike Hsu, Lee Ming-feng (李名峰), a car driver, said that he did not spend any extra money on earphones since they came with the package when he bought his cellphone two years ago.
"And I don't intend to buy new ones because the ones I have right now seem pretty good," he said. "Besides, I don't have extra money to spend."
Lee added that he started using earphones while driving some six months ago.
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