In a move that would have ACCC Chairman, Graeme Samuel calling in the hit squad Sony who tend to sell at the premium end of the market has called for price fixing claiming it eliminates competition among retailers and is a great benefit for consumers.
Speaking in New York to the New York Times senior Sony executive Stan Glasgow who is the president of Sony Electronics in the United States, and Jay Vandenbree, the company’s president for consumer sales have said that Sony has bought in new rules in the USA that bans retailers from discounting Sony’s Alpha digital camera line, it’s more expensive televisions and some other high-end products.
Eliminating price competition among retailers for high-end cameras and TVs is a great benefit for consumers Glasgow has argued.
In a move that would be a clear breach of the law in Australia and attract massive fines Sony is seriously pursuing their new strategy with Vandenbree saying “By having the price for these products be the same at all retailers, Sony had eliminated stress for buyers. Consumers don’t have to worry about whether I can get a better deal at retailer A or retailer B,” he said. “Everybody gets the best deal.” He said stores can now compete on other attributes, like education and support.
Mr. Vandenbree said this program was part of the reason that the Alpha line was gaining share in the single-lens reflex camera market.
The reason that Sony can get away with price fixing in the USA follows a court case last year in the USA in which the Supreme Court overturned a doctrine and said a court must consider the facts of each case to determine if a particular price policy is illegal”.
Following this case Sony introduced what it calls Sony Unified Resale Execution, or S.U.R.E which fixes the price Sony goods should be sold at. Glasgow has declined to say if it will be expanded to more products next year or rolled out into other foreign markets.
In response to a question about the market and the impact of the economic downturn Sony said it was increasing promotions in retail stores, but was not cutting prices.
“There was value planned in the product,” Glasgow said. “That value is there. Whether consumers will take advantage of it is another question. But we don’t think that dropping the price alone will add traffic.”
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