Samsung will join Sony in exiting the Australian PC market according to retail executives.
Terry Smart the CEO of JB Hi Fi said that his Company is currently in talks with Sony Australia about their exit from the Australian PC market, he also said that the retailer who recently reported a 10% increase in profits is well advanced in discussions with Chinese Company Lenovo with insiders tipping that the mass retailers could shortly release a range of Lenovo PC products including notebooks and all in one PC’s via JB Hi Fi who is the exclusive seller of the popular Lenovo Yogo tablet.
The exit of Sony and Samsung could lead to increased sales of Toshiba, Acer and Asus PC products in Australia claim analysts.It also opens the market up for LG who is currently expanding their PC range in Australia.
In July 2013 Samsung denied that they were set to exit the PC market in order to better concentrate on smartphone and tablet products however in recent months the Korean Company has significantly reduced their output of PC products according to DigiTimes with PC executives in Korean now revaluating their position in what is now a declining category for PC manufacturers.
Recently the Company released a Chromebox – a small form factor device based around Google’s Linux-powered Chrome OS currently the company offers a wide range of all-in-one systems in Australia include a range of Windows 8 touch-screen devices.
The head of Samsung’s PC division in Australia Todd Lynton has not denied the claims that the Company is considering an exit of the Windows based PC market.
Samsung Communication executives have also not denied that the Company has already decided to exit the Australian PC market.
A recent Gartner research report suggests that by the end of the 2014 financial year worldwide sales of traditional desktops and laptops will be down by more than 10 per cent, with further losses predicted for the second half of 2014 as many consumers turn to a tablet as opposed to purchasing a notebook.
Combined with similar reports from the International Data Corporation, including the largest sales slump on record, and its sombre reading for companies that don’t have a mobile strategy in place.
Recently Sony entered talks to sell the brand to Japan Industrial Partners (JIP). The deal was announced in the company’s latest earnings report issued last week. Sony said it will also cut about 5,000 jobs by the end of the year as well as exit International markets including Australia. The sale to JIP will be finalized in March. Sony will stop sales and manufacturing of VAIO after the spring 2014 product line-up is announced, the company said.
With its sluggish computer division out of the way, Sony said it is going to focus on its more profitable products. Chief among them are smartphones and tablets. The company currently markets the Xperia line of smartphones and tablets in Australia. The latest, an unlocked high-end Xperia Z1 smartphone.
Overall, Sony said it expects to lose $1.1 billion this year. It was expected to actually see a profit of about $300 million when it last forecast its yearly earnings ending in March. Sony said that it experienced a “significant decrease” in PC sales during the last quarter, especially. Last year, the company introduced the VAIO Duo 13, a tablet/laptop hybrid.
