Panasonic has today announced it will be withdrawing from the Australian TV market so the company can focus on other more established and successful areas of the business.
Once considered one of the “big four” TV manufacturers along with Samsung, LG and Sony, Panasonic has struggled to keep pace with these major vendors and were being overtaken by other emerging Chinese brands like Hisense and TCL.
Panasonic has been in the consumer electronics business for more than 100 years and was one of the top TV brands when plasma flat screen TVs literally changed the shape of the television in the early 2000s.
But as plasma was phased out, Panasonic slowly transitioned to LED TV and eventually entered the OLED TV market and sourcing its panels from LG Displays.
But the company didn’t enjoy any real success with its premium OLED TVs which were once said to be favoured by Hollywood filmmakers as reference monitors.
“Panasonic has informed our valued retail partners of this decision and will continue to build on our strong and successful relationship with them as we work together to offer the diverse range of Panasonic products to Australian consumers,” said Panasonic Australia managing director Paul Reid.
“Our current range of high-quality television models will continue to be sold via retailers in Australia while stocks last.
“Panasonic Australia will also continue to provide customer service to all owners of its television products.
“We will always put our customers first and provide the highest level of support.
“This decision will not affect any other products in our Home AV range or any other categories, which remain available in Australia in 2020 and beyond.
Reid said Panasonic is excited about the company’s offerings in 2020 in other categories including its popular audio range, video and LUMIX imaging products.
The other growing areas for Panasonic is its range of personal care and kitchen appliances along, its award winning air conditioning range and the recently re-launched Technics premium audio brand.
