ChannelNews understands that JB Hi Fi would have launched the Philips premium range this year however problems with Google’s Android TV delayed the launch of the Philips premium offering.
This resulted in the mass retailer stocking the Hitachi TV brand that is distributed by Tempo as a replacement for the Sharp TV brand which was pulled from retail stores earlier this year.
Recently questions were raised about the future of the Philips TV brand in Australia after two leading retailers independently told ChannelNews that representatives of TP Vision had told them that only “cheap” Philips models will be sold in Australia in the future.
This has been denied by Erik Kab an executive from TP Vision Australia.
He said that it is up to retailers and Tempo the Australian distributor of Philips TV’s as to which Philips premium TV’s will be launched into the Australian market.
Kab said “the Philips Premium TV range was delayed because of problems with the roll out of Android TV models. At this stage Australia should start seeing Philips premium TV’s by May 2016”.
At IFA in September the new Philips UHD 4K AmbiLux TV was revealed along with the Philips 8601 series which is a stunning ultra-thin TV series that Philips has been able to stash in an 18-speaker system made of 16 micro-drivers and two built-in Neodymium subwoofers, all delivering 50W of output.
The micro-drivers are hidden inside two 17 mm dark chrome speakers on the left and right side of TV but can be detached for a wireless sound setup. The 8601 also sports Philips proprietary 4-sided Ambilight technology.
The Philips 9600 series is not as thin as the 8601 series but it makes up for that in display prowess.
In particular, this smart TV comes with support for HDR or High Dynamic Range.
The unique Philips technology in the 9600 achieves greater contrast, producing darker blacks, brighter whites, and more vibrant colours than several other TV brands currently being sold in Australia.
Several Australian retailers have told ChannelNews that with the right brand investment the Philips could be among the four TV brands sold in Australia.
The retailers who attended IFA this year where a large range of premium Philips TV were shown to retailers claim that there is a “big market” for Philips premium TV’s in Australia as the brand is “well known” and is seen as a quality European brand despite TP Vision taking a key shareholding in Philips TV operations.
A senior Harvey Norman franchisee told ChannelNews that an executive from TP Vision had told them at IFA that in the future only budget Philips TV’s would be sold in Country and “like Philips monitors the stock would be distributed by Ingram Micro or Synnex”.
“This would be a disaster as there is several cheap TV brands already being sold in Australia. Philips is not a cheap TV brand. Philip audio and TV technology is as good as some of the leading brands” the Harvey Norman franchisee said.
When asked why TP Vision only wanted to sell budget TV’s in Australia, the TP Vision executive is alleged to told retailers that both Hisense and TCL were doing a better job of selling “cheap TV’s sand that this is the market where TP Vision wants to compete in the future with the Philips TV brand.
Tempo the current distributor of Philips TV’s in Australia said that they were keen to launch a new range of premium Philips TV’s this year but stock was not available for the Australian market, they refused to discuss what agreement they had reached to launch new Philips TV’s in Australia.
Kab said that in the monitor market Philips was a “tier 2 monitor supplier”.
He said that the new Philips UHD 4K AmbiLux TV’s will be available for the Australian market in the second half of 2016.
