HCM CITY (VNS) — With three months to go for the New Year, many stores in the city have begun selling calendars for 2013.

As competition heats up in the calendar market, producers are coming out with more styles, new shapes and materials in order to make their products stand out.

Market observers say that calendar models for 2013, including bloc, wall and desktop calendars are, for the most part, printed on good quality paper, have nice designs and contain a lot of useful information. The "bonus" information includes historical and geographical data, interesting facts on science and technology, culture and art, proverbs and quotations and even folk songs.

Theme-based calendars are also available in the market this year.

For example, a calendar themed "Learn and follow the moral ideals of President Ho" has been launched for the first time this year. The calendar features 365 poems by the late president and more than 200 images reflecting his work.

The owner of a calendar shop in District 1's Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street said the designs and paper quality of 2013 calendars are better than in previous years.

Their content and styles are also more diverse, she said, adding that they also cost more by 5-15 per cent over last year because of higher costs of materials, transportation and labour.

Prices for wall calendars this year range from VND20,000-50,000 (US$1-2,5), while bloc calendars cost between VND200,000-500,000 ($10-25) on average. Some bloc calendars, especially those with oil paintings, are priced between VND300,000 and 800,000. — VNS