JB Hi Fi and Kogan are falling in price. But Gerry Harvey appears to be propping his prices up.
In fact, Harvey Norman is shown to be the most expensive of four main Aussie electronics retailers, followed by JB Hi-Fi, Dick Smith and Kogan, who was shown to be the cheapest.
That’s according to the latest consumer electronics indices from Credit Suisse, which examined prices in four of the main tech retailers: Harvey Norman, JB Hi-Fi, Dick Smith and online-only operator Kogan, from July-January last.
All four retailers were shown to have dropped their prices, overall, in the past few months, bar Dick Smith.
Dick Smith prices dipped in August, around the time it held massive sales before being sold off to equity group Anchorage Capital.
However, prices rose again towards the end of the year.
“We have observed incremental price increases at Dick Smith Electronics across a number of categories since early December,” notes Grant Saligari, an analyst at Credit Suisse.
“There is some uncertainty as to Dick Smith’s pricing tactics due to its recent ownership change. These tactics will be an important influence on sector profitability.”
JB Hi-Fi prices also dropped in accessories from Nov-Jan, as did tablets ( it’s most competitive category) and MP3 players.
Harvey Norman was clearly shown as the priciest among its rivals, with accessories in particular, showing a massive price hike, although tablets did fall.
“Prices have stabilised following selective discounting in December,” the Credit Suisse analyst said, but expects gross margin to increase year on year.
Overall, prices of cameras are falling about 18 per cent per year and MP3 players are down 22 per cent, the indices shows.
