By Patrick Avenell
SYDNEY, NSW: Whatever perceptions or misconceptions retailers had about 3D TV have been dispelled, with Samsung’s retail partners “blown away” by its quality, according to Samsung head of marketing, consumer electronics division, Mark Leathan.
Speaking at the launch of Samsung’s new range of 3D televisions, which go on sale next week from RRP $2,499, Leathan admitted there were some doubts amongst retailers about how good 3D TVs would be, but those doubts no longer exist.
“They’re absolutely blown away by it,” he said. “When we’ve showed them the demonstrations through February – some pre-production samples – they were absolutely blown away by the quality of it.
“I think they had this view of 3D as being a bit dodgy and scratchy, [but] it’s fantastic quality, and they’re really up for it.”
Leathan said Samsung has been working with retailers since late 2009; keeping them informed on screen sizes, pricing and how to display the products most effectively in store. He said this last point was particularly important.
“We’ve certainly had to do that [work with retailers], because if you have the 3D picture running all the time [in store] it’s going to be blurred and people will wonder what’s wrong with the TV. If you don’t, then people may not know it’s 3D.
“So we’ve working very closely with our retail partners as to how best to display this in terms of lighting, positioning and even training the people on how to demonstrate it effectively, it’s been very important to us.”
Finally, Leathan confirmed that despite the unexpectedly aggressive price points, there is still substantial margin in the Samsung 3D range to keep retailers happy.
“Any new product that comes to market has margin… being an innovative brand, that’s what keep us going.”