Philips recently announced they will be pulling the plug on their TV sales in Australia and New Zealand.
This follows on from Hitachi's exit earlier this year.
This shows just how cut-throat the retail market is for consumer electronics. By adding significant costs through middlemen, companies like Philips, Hitachi, and no doubt others down the track, are finding it very hard to remain competitive.
Not only does this result in less innovation and unfair pricing for consumers, it means they can no longer stay competitive.
It's even more proof that direct, online sales are the way to go. The success of the Kogan brand shows that people are very excited about saving huge amounts of money by buying online, instead of lining the pockets of distributors, retailers, etc.
What do you think, are you sad to see Philips go? Do you think more TV manufacturers will follow suit?
Comments
Hear what our customer's have to say.
Rob says...
I don't really care about who leaves and who stays, that is what a competitive market does, but let me say this. I would rather see Kogan blog here about issues relating to US,purchasers and potential customers, not the opposition...
let us know about problems, improvements, a suggestions box, get the hint guys?
Posted at 6:53 p.m. on September 17, 2008
Jimmy says...
Yes Rob is right who cares about who stays and who goes. All i want to know is how can Kogan call themselves competitive when he is selling Kogan Pro Full HD on ebay for $1799 and same TV is on sale on Kogan.com.au website for $1399. I don't understand this. I wonder how much they really cost. And it'll be nice if my post doesn't get taken off like my last post. I would like an answer please.............
Posted at 8:33 p.m. on September 17, 2008
Ben says...
jimmy with ebay comes charges like a certain percentage of the sale ... etc etc... it's a bit excessive but don't be forgetting the whole reason people go into business in the first place ......To make some money.................
smile it's still cheap :>
remember though u get what you pay for .. . dead pixels , software glitches, faulty inputs....
Think about WHERE you buy and how much Time you spend watching television... Purchase something you will be happy with!!!!
Posted at 9:15 p.m. on September 18, 2008
Ruslan Kogan says...
Hi guys,
Thanks for your suggestion. We're always looking to improve the blog so your feedback is greatly appreciated.
I think this does affect customers because it's indicative of the problems with the current retail climate in Australia.
Jimmy, I'm not sure what happened to your last post, but they do all appear on the site automatically. I will look into it and make sure it didn't accidentally get flagged as spam.
Regarding the eBay price difference, Ben is right about the various issues with supplying products across Australia through eBay, with significantly varied postage costs as well. The prices on our website are the best value in Australia, so if you are interested in buying a Kogan product our website is your best bet.
Cheers,
Ruslan
Posted at 10:30 p.m. on September 18, 2008
axn_au says...
Who / What Kogan is ???
It is very cheap product made somewhere in Asia. Have a look at your product spec and compare to other brands . If your product is so good as you stated why you dont offer 3 years warranty?
Posted at 11:54 p.m. on September 20, 2008
ugoagogo says...
kogan has its place in the market.....right next to TCl and Hisense...its reguarded as value for money product.
If you want top end with the best features you would get Philips/Sony.
Posted at 3:12 p.m. on September 21, 2008
dez says...
it sounds like anx_au just come from making them in asia!
Posted at 1:42 p.m. on September 22, 2008
bowiee says...
@ "axn_au" Made in Asia ! I thought all tv's were.
Posted at 4:59 p.m. on September 22, 2008
David says...
It is very sad that two good quality manufactures are leaving the Australian market, less competion = higher prices.
Posted at 3:50 p.m. on September 30, 2008
Waz From Qld.au says...
Hello everyone. The price we pay now may cost someone close to you the job they enjoy doing, name brands, we know we pay more for..and that is the standards we expect.. now with no name brands we mite save a few dollars now but we will pay more for it in transport and repair costs, so support the brands that you trust and help keep someone in a job.
a good product will sell itself... cheaper brands need a catch or a jingle to attract you, let the buyer beware.
thank you for taking the time to read my post..!!
Posted at 7:13 a.m. on October 1, 2008
Bill D says...
One good feature Philips sets have is the Ambilight (a light around the edge that washes over the wall behind the tv that changes colour depending on what's on screen). Sounds like a silly gimmick, but I have a friend with one and it's really good.
Posted at 4:28 p.m. on October 2, 2008
Cam says...
I'm more than happy to buy online, but for something as significant as a monitor or screen, I need to see it first, and get a sense of whether I'm going to enjoy spending time staring at it. For me, screens are not yet interchangable and commoditised.
Posted at 8:16 p.m. on October 8, 2008
Daz says...
Well I have just received my 24" LCD computer monitor and given what I paid for it on eBay am happy with my purchase. The only suggestion I would make is that Kogan includes the necessary cables with their computer monitors to connect it to the computer. i.e. DVI and or VGA and Audio cable. This is an added cost to the product and of course you can't just take the product out of the box and start using it - unlike products purchased from every other supplier I have ever purchased from... If I add the cost of cables to the cost of the product, then it actually works out a little more expensive than Dell or a few other name brands.
This is the second product I have purchased from Kogan - the 1st being a GPS when Kogan first started.
Also I would advise Kogan be careful about stating that some of their pricing is industry smashing… I seen at least 3 different brands of Blu-Ray players only today for $350 or less and only this week in Digital Home news there was mention of Sony releasing a new Blu-Ray model for under $400. I would ask anyone if they was going to buy a product – would they buy from the developer of the product for a few more dollars or another manufacture?
Good luck Kogan and I hope you do take constructive suggestions onboard.
Cheers!
Posted at 3:54 a.m. on October 17, 2008
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