By James Wells

SYDNEY: Hitachi has revealed the business doubled sales of flat panel displays prior to closing its business, including sales of 3,500 units during the Boxing Day week.

At a press conference held yesterday afternoon at The American Club in Sydney, Hitachi general manager, Geoff Hannaford, revealed the company experienced significant growth in the flat panel market before the company’s decision to leave the Australian market.

“The Australian consumer product team should be proud of their achievements and this year we are enjoying a record year, especially in our major category – flat panel display – plasma and LCD,” he said.

He said the company had sold 21,300 televisions from April to December 2006, but sold exactly double that – 42,600 – for the same period this year.

“In December 2006, we sold a modest 1,900 pieces while in December 2007 we sold 10,400 pieces – a 447 per cent increase – including 3,500 units in Boxing Day week alone. Our share from the third to the fourth quarter of 2007 grew from 3.6 per cent to 8.7 per cent. Our P50X01AU 50-inch plasma achieved number one position in the plasma 50-inch full HD segment during the Christmas period, reported in week 52 of GfK. In addition our plasma market share grew 3 per cent and our LCD market share grew 6 per cent.

“Our company managing director for Australia, Mr Sugihara should be acknowledged for the support now in place for our staff, retailers, consumers, sales agents and business partners who exercised their loyalty and commitment to the Hitachi Australia team, so we can exit the market in a professional manner,” he said.