During the past 12 months several overseas companies such as Vogel, Omnimount and Canohm have grown market share in Australia off the back of the boom in demand for large screen TVs.
The overseas developed mounts are seen by consumers as being "cosmetically appealing" according to Len Wallis of Len Wallis Audio in Sydney.
"The overseas companies are designing mounts and lifters for a global market. They have the systems and the R&D budgets to deliver a superior product to the locally developed products which primarily are designed and manufactured in small engineering shops. They are poorly packaged and poorly marketed, " said a leading Sydney CEDIA member.
Agreeing with this sentiment Len Wallis said, "The market is changing; consumers want slimline cosmetically appealing lifters and mounts. Brands like Ultralift are coming under pressure and we have spoken to them about their products some weeks ago. They are well aware of the pressure they are under. There is a big difference in appeal between a mechanical mount designed by a local manufacturer and some of the new mounts now being sold by companies like Vogel and Omnimount and others. At the recent CEDIA show in the US we saw some stunning new mounts from the likes of CLOX, Vogel and Omnimount."
