By James Wells
SYDNEY: Sharp Australia has called for an end to the constant price erosion in the marketplace which has claimed its Japanese competitor – Hitachi Australia.
“Obviously the situation with Hitachi is one of major significance and is a reflection of the sad state of affairs that exists in our industry,” said Sharp Corporation of Australia deputy managing director, Denis Kerr.
“The ridiculous price action and ‘siege mentality’ being applied by several suppliers and retailers, is not healthy and is proving to be counter productive to the future of all of the industry.
“Already, in the first weeks of the new year, we have seen the commencement of further erosion of pricing which simply cannot be sustained by the industry. If the trend continues, then we are sure to see a marketplace consisting of ‘no name’ inferior products with negligible margins for Retailers and little choice of quality brands for either the retailer or consumer,” he said.