A 60″ $11,000 Pioneer Kuro plasma TV that can be calibrated and reset up remotely by an installer along with a $4,000 Blu ray player and an $11,000 home theatre receiver and amplifier are all part of a new strategy by Pioneer Electronics to establish themselves as the premium gear vendor in the consumer electronics market. A 60″ $11,000 Pioneer Kuro plasma TV that can be calibrated and reset up remotely by an installer along with a $4,000 Blu ray player and an $11,000 home theatre receiver and amplifier are all part of a new strategy by Pioneer Electronics to establish themselves as the premium gear vendor in the consumer electronics market.
Designed to be sold via the specialist channel the new range is set to be used by the struggling Japanese electronics Company to totally re position the brand in Australia. Pioneer are also delivering a totally integrated one brand home entertainment solution from which installers can not only make money from selling and installing but from ongoing support through the introduction of IP enabled remote diagnostic system.
“Gone are the days of selling our premium gear via mass retailers” said Tony Trent the National Product Manager for the Pioneer Home Entertainment Group. “Our future is premium products that deliver for consumers an exceptional home entertainment experience” he added.
“When asked whether there was a future for premium priced Blu ray players and $11,000 plasma TV’s he said “Our Blu ray players are almost double our competitors and during the past few weeks we have been air freighting stock to keep up with demand. Consumers will pay for quality. Our Kuro plasma panels that have been judged the best in the world by critics and now include a new generation of 50″ and 60″ models are in big demand and we are struggling to keep up with supply”.
“What is now happening internally in the Company is that we are designing and delivering a range of high quality components that span source, sound and vision not too many other consumer electronics Companies are doing this particularly as we have the world’s best HD TV” said Trent.
“We are building in resources such as USB connectivity that allow iPods to connect directly via the USB connector. This eliminates the need for a docking station. We allow for the screen to be calibrated by either a sensor set into the bezel of the screen or remotely by a professional”.
On the issue of remote diagnostics Len Wallis of Len Wallis Audio in Sydney said “It is the future, we are currently reviewing the introduction of such a service. Today a service call is expensive particularly if we have to do a van call to a client. To be able to fix problems whether it be a screen problem the resetting up of a universal remote or the sound system remotely will be a big benefit for the consumer and the installer channel”.
Among the new models being rolled out by Pioneer are the Pioneer SUSANO (SC-LX90), AV amplifier. A new PDP-LX609A, 60 inch KURO Full-HD plasma TV that boasts black levels five times over the current award-winning 8th Generation models and a new $4,000 Blu ray player with duel HDMI output for both an audio and video channel.
