A brutal flat panel TV war has broken out with retailers pumping millions into catalogues and vendors tipping millions into TV marketing and below the line giveaways in an effort to entice consumers to buy a new TV system prior to the Beijing Olympic Games.
Harvey Norman executive director, David Ackery said that he believed that the top 4 brands Samsung, Sony, Panasonic and LG would grab the lion’s share of the market with other brands set to fight over the spoils.
Talking to ChannelNews he said “At the end of the day we have to sell the benefit of better quality vision. I believe that the opportunity is there to get sporting fans that purchased a flat panel TV for the last Olympics to upgrade to a large 1080p 100HZ TV. The market that has held back buying a new TV now have the benefit of not only cheaper prices but some attractive vendor offers”.
Another major retailer who did not want to be named said said :There is only one winner in this war the customer. Now is the best time ever to buy a flat panel TV as several vendors are trying to out do each other with promotions. Not everyone can win and while Sony got away with a big giveaway earlier this year they will find it a lot togher the second time round. Collectively
Currently Sony is offering 35,000 free Sony PS3 Playstation, Samsung new Foxtel Full HD PVR or a Blu ray player, LG a $300 Visa card and Panasonic a multimillion dollar “Swim to Win” promotion that will see them give away 70 prizes of Pansonic products worth $25,000 every day.
They are also giving away 5,000 instant Panasonic product prizes, including Blu-ray players, portable DVD players and SD Card camcorders.
Another major retailer who did not want to be named said “There is only one winner in this war the customer. Now is the best time ever to buy a flat panel TV as several vendors are trying to outdo each other with promotions. Not everyone can win and while Sony got away with a big giveaway earlier this year they will find it a lot tougher the second time round. Collectively tens of millions are being spent on TV marketing catalogues and in below the line promotions however there is not enough market share for everyone. The big four will grab 80% of the market and the rest will have to fight it out. It will be tough and brutal”.
Paul Read the General Manager of Panasonic said “We are confident of success as our buy in by retailers has been excellent. The promotion we are running delivers real consumer value and with all mainstream vendors competing for market share the battle will be tough”. He said.
The CEO of Sony believes that consumers who were early adopters of a flat panel TV will now look at upgrading to a Full HD TV in time for the Beijing Olympics however he believes that the bulk of sales will be in the under 50″ market.
He also believes that the launch of Tivo by Seven Media during the Olympics will confuse consumers while adding yet another consumer electronics complexity for them to consider. “HD has moved on and while there is still not enough clarity between HD and Full HD I believe that consumers who were early adopters will consider a mover to a bigger and better Full HD TV. We also believe that the there is a second and third screen buyer out there who will buy prior to the Olympics”.
