EXCLUSIVE: Sanyo has rocked the TV industry in Australia by grabbing the #2 retail sales slot in February with 11% share ahead of LG, Sony, Toshiba and Panasonic. Sony has slipped from #1 to fourth spot.According to the latest GFK data obtained by ChannelNews, Samsung is back at #1 with 14% while Sony who were #1 in January due to heavy discounting, has been pushed into the #4 slot with only 10% share of the TV market. LG who tomorrow will launch a new range of TVs has held onto the #3 slot with 10.7% share.
Bill Crichton, the Managing Director of Sanyo Asia Pacific, said: “I have not seen the GFK data but it does not surprise me, as we have built up a reputation for being a brand that flies under the radar. We have a specific distribution model via stores like Big W, Dick Smith and JB Hi Fi that are delivering excellent sales for us”.
Sony is not saying why their market share has slipped so dramatically since January however a senior executive at Sony Australia did admit that the company had struggled with supply of stock due to heavy discounting.
Among the other brands to have gained share is Toshiba with 5% share and Teac with 6%. Also performing well has been Palsonic and Hisense. Panasonic had 5% share of the TV market in February.
According to JB Hi Fi executives the GFK data is not an accurate reflection of the market as it does not include house brands or sales of TVs via JB Hi Fi stores, a retail group who GFK has admitted gets a high percentage of sales in Australia.
Last month Garry Lamb, the Managing Director of GFK Australia, said that the data collected and analysed by GFK is an “accurate estimation” because of GFK’s “mathematical” and “analysis” skills which are used to guess what some retailers are selling in Australia.
Lamb admitted that in the consumer electronics market, his company does not have access to data from JB Hi Fi, despite JB Hi Fi having over 30% share of the overall consumer electronics market and over 40% share in several categories tracked by GFK with other retailers.
