Using an army of public relations executives Sony today rolled out a range of new Bravia HD LCD TV’s in an effort to reclaim their volume leadership position in the LCD TV market.
However, the problem they face is that their pricing is significantly higher than models currently available from several other competitors including Samsung, Toshiba, Sharp, LG and high quality Chinese brands such as Hisense.
In the May JB Hi Fi catalogue that is set to appear in newspapers today a Sony 40″ Full HD 100Hz TV is being advertised on the front page at the “unbelievable” price of $2,998 however a flick of the page reveals that a similar 42″Full HD Toshiba TV can be purchased for $2,291 or a 42″ Full HD Sharp TV for $2,496.
Another problem for Sony is that because of their financial woes, the company has been forced to turn to OEM manufacturers to make their Bravia LCD TV’s. Among the companies now being used by Sony to manufacture the bottom end Bravia Full HD TV’s is Hisense, a Chinese manufacturer who manufactures over 10 million, LCD TV’s a year for various brands.
In the JB Hi Fi catalogue a Hisense 42″ 100HZ Full HD TV which comes with 3 HDMI outputs is selling for $1,591 which is $1,407 less expensive than the $2,998 Sony 40″ model.
At today’s launch held at Wharf 8 in Sydney, Sony released several new models and pricing. Among the new range is the Bravia W5500 and V5500 series which feature Sony’s Motionflow 100Hz technology.
32-inch V5500 series – $1,799 available in May
32-inch W5500 series – $2,099 available in May
46-inch W5500 series – $3,499 available in May
40-inch W5500 series – $2,899 available in May
40-inch V5500 series – $2,299 available in May
“Australians are embracing Full High Definition at a faster rate than ever, with 60 per cent of LCD TV sales now in Full HD resolution,” said Sony Australia product manager – visual display, Jan Ergen.
Sony has refused to discuss with ChannelNews as to why they believe that their products are being priced significantly higher than their competitor’s or why they believe Australians should pay up to $3,000 more for an 11″ OLED TV than a US consumer.
They have also refused to comment on why they are not slashing the cost of the PS2 Playstation gaming console in Australia after it was slashed to sub $100 in the USA. In Australia the same product sells for $199.
