Has Harvey Norman dumped Panasonic in a row over rebates and promotional dollars?This weekend several forums have raised the issue of the mystery disappearance of Panasonic TVs from one of Australia’s largest consumer electronics retailers. SmartHouse first noticed the disappearance when Panasonic was omitted from a major Harvey Norman TV promotion.
A Whirlpool Forum contributor said that Panasonic has disappeared from Harvey Norman stores and the company’s web site.
Another writer said “I would imagine this would hurt Panasonic Australia quite a bit”.
Another contributor praised Panasonic for standing up to Harvey Norman demands.
“The box movers desire for greater and greater rebates and backend support is what’s keeping pricing so high in Australia” said another.
Other comments included “I heard that rebate negotiations weren’t going Harvey’s way. If it’s true and Panasonic did reject their demands – good on them.”
Harvey Norman is refusing to comment while Panasonic executives are referring
One forum regular said “A Sales rep in a Perth store told me on the weekend they were restocking Panasonic TVs in mid-June.” Harvey Norman is obviously a big player in the industry but they are not the biggest or the only player.
“I would have thought if anything, that it would hurt Harvey Norman more than it would Panasonic”.
Another whirlpool contributor said “Obviously Harvey Norman must have been expecting too much from Panasonic, that doesn’t surprise me. I suspected that eventually manufacturers would stop allowing the likes of Harvey Norman to dictate to them where they sell their products.
“I think more companies will begin resorting to having their own stores as well as supplying to retailers, and also investing more in online shopping solely for their products.
“Personally, I bought from Dick Smith, who is going through some major shifts at the moment, so it’s interesting that Panasonic still sought to offer their products to DSE despite their somewhat uncertain financial position and even more interesting is that DSE was offering Panasonic TVs at such comparatively low prices, EG: I bought my set for $1400 whereas JB HiFi would only go as low as $1700”.
