The consumer electronics market has not slowed says one of Australia’s largest retailers with “flat panel display and anything HD” literally walking out says David Ackery the head of consumer electronics at Harvey Norman.
The consumer electronics market has not slowed says one of Australia’s largest retailers with “flat panel display and anything HD” literally walking out says David Ackery the head of consumer electronics at Harvey Norman.
“I am not seeing the doom and gloom that a lot of people are talking about and if we could have got more stock of flat panel TV’s during the first quarter we would have sold it as we are selling every HD TV we can lay our hands on” said Ackery.
As for Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s recent economic stimulus handout Ackery believes that this is helping however he was quick to point out that with the pre Xmas handout that only 10% made its way into retail stores such as Harvey Norman “I think more went on pokies and grog than into the coffers of retail stores. While this is helping we are seeing confidence among consumers especially when they come in to buy consumer electronics” Ackery said.
While the likes of Panasonic, LG and Samsung are selling all of the flat panel TV screens that they can lay their hands on Sony Australia has resorted to giving away a Blu ray player in an effort to sell more of their Bravia LCD TV’s in a move which several vendors have told ChannelNews and SmartHouse is “ridiculous” in the current market.
When Ackery was asked to comment on whether it was necessary to give away margin by giving away a Blu ray player he said “You will have to ask Carl Rose about this (referring to the Managing Director of Sony Australia) but it does seem odd as flat panel TV’s are booming. Companies like Panasonic who have had a record year would have done even better if they had had more display stock. We are currently doing a lot of business with Panasonic and we are set to do a lot more business with them this year. They are an excellent partner”.
One of the top three vendors in the TV market said “Sony are giving margin at a time when they are also experiencing stock shortages in the retail channel this does not make sense. They did it last year with their PS3 promotion and despite this and the fact that it cost them millions in promotion dollars Samsung still beat them into the #1 TV spot”.
On the question Freeview Ackery said that he was unsure as to whether Freeview as a marketing concept will work. “There is a need for some sort of cheap box for all those people who cannot afford or have not purchased a new digital display. 65% of consumers have still not purchased a digital TV display system and for those who will need a converter box a Freeview offering could be the answer”.
He added “I am meeting with the Freeview people this week so I will a better understanding of where they would like to go and until then I am uncertain as to where Harvey Norman will go with Freeview”.
It also appears that Harvey Norman who was the launch partners for TiVo is not happy with the mass distribution of the TiVo PVR in Australia. When asked where he though TiVo was going he said “We are still selling TiVo but then again so is every other Tom Dick and Harry retailer. I am not certain as to how they will go selling a TiVo subscription however I do believe that they have done themselves a disservice by spreading their distribution as wide as they have.”
