Consumer electronics shoppers tempted

Just when you thought it was good and right to hold on to your MP3 player or notebook computer for more than a year or two, Samsung Electronics and its competitors are pushing trade-in programs to change your mind. Consumer electronics manufacturers from time to time let customers exchange used products, particularly mobile phones, for discounts on new ones of the same make. But now Samsung is even accepting other brands. The company said it expected the offers to help it gain market share. Samsung said recently that until May 15 it would provide discounts of up to 90,000 won ($90) on its products to anyone who turns in any MP3 player with a memory of 64 megabytes or more. Also, Samsung is giving 200,000-won discounts for people who trade in a Samsung printer and buy its latest model, the CLP-510R. Sony Korea in March offered similar incentives to owners of its Vaio laptop computers. Also, the leading domestic manufacturers of washing machines - Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and Daewoo Electronics ― were offering similar deals in January and February. by Lee Ho-jeong