Low margin, high volume is part of the DNA at Toshiba Australia, who for many years has competed in the brutal world of notebook marketing. Now they are putting that skill to work in the TV market with amazing results.
In September their market share of the flat panel TV market had risen from 3.9% share at September 09, to 10.6% share in September 2010 and despite what Gerry Harvey the CEO of the Harvey Norman retail chain, Toshiba is one vendor that is profitable selling flat panel TV’s into the Australia market.
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| New Toshiba 3D TV designed by Jacob Jansen |
During the past 12 months the Company that has witnessed up to 260% growth some months is now firmly the fifth largest TV company, and often 4th according to Rob Wilkinson, the General Manger of Toshiba’s Information Systems Division, who after taking over the job 12 months ago from Mark Whittard the now MD of Toshiba Australia.
Wilkinson and his team have got growth by expanding the Company into several new retail partnerships including the like of Dick Smith the Narta buying group and The Good Guys.
In the 32″ TV market which has been one of the strongest performers this year Toshiba has seen their share grow significantly to 9.7% of the total market.
Now the Company is set to expand into the premium end of the TV market with a new 55″ 3D LED model that has been designed by Jacob Jenson. Key features of the new TV are built in wireless, DLNA compatibility and two new Toshiba engines which appear to deliver superior picture performance.
Also in their premium range is a new 46″ model. Both TV’s are 200Hz Full HD, they also have Resolution Plus which up-scales SD image to HD quality.
A new image is then down scaled to see the differences between the new image and the original SD image with differences between the two images detected and removed. This process for up-scaling and downscaling occurs 3 times.
Another new feature is Auto View which adjusts the LCD’s backlight depending on the lighting condition in a room. In light rooms backlight is increased, in dark rooms backlight is dimmed.
According to Wilkinson the market is tough. “We are profitable and growing so we must be doing something right. The future is very much about content and content management and we believe that Toshiba is in an excellent position due to our PC notebook heritage and the fact that we are able to deliver a high performance TV” he said.
“The TV’s that we are delivering into the premium market have DLNA compatibility, built in wireless and a high 5,5 star energy rating which makes us very competitive in the market”.
The two new TV’s will retail for $4,199 for the 55″ model and $3,299 for the 46″ model.
