There’s one less TV maker in Australia this year, as Panasonic moves away from televisions locally.
You probably already know how many choices you have when it comes to buying a TV in Australia, but this year, there will be at least one less.
Panasonic is leaving the Australian TV market, leaving the television battle to be fought between Samsung, LG, Sony, Hisense, TCL, Soniq, and countless other store brands. Interestingly, it’s a decision that won’t affect any other aspect of the Panasonic product list, including that of Panasonic soundbars, which will still be released and sold locally, despite the TVs that won’t accompany them.
The good news is that the current crop of Panasonic TVs will be sold in Australia “while stocks last”, and that customers of current Panasonic TVs will continue to receive customer service, with the company’s Australian Managing Director, Paul Reid, stating that “we will always put our customers first and provide the highest level of support”.
“Panasonic Australia has decided to withdraw from the Australian television market in 2020, in light of current local market conditions and to allow the company to focus on other established and emerging areas of the business,” said Reid in a statement released to journalists.
“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.”
While the withdrawal of TVs from store shelves is of note, the company isn’t withdrawing completely from Australia, with more coming in audio both from soundbars and the recently relaunched Technics brand, video, appliances, air conditioning, and obviously the Lumix camera brand, the latter of which has been making strides in the market thanks to the support of Ultra HD formats, such as 4K and 6K support.
What does Panasonic’s withdrawal from Australia mean for TV sales?
With no new Panasonic TVs on the way for stores and the company specifically citing “while stocks last”, it does suggest that current models could be dropped in price as the stocks begin to dwindle.
In Australia, new televisions are typically replaced yearly between April and June, meaning a drop in price in previous models just before to during the release. But with no new models on the way from Panasonic, we could see those price drops happen much, much earlier.
We’ve asked Panasonic if pricing for the available models will see a price reduction, but our suggestion would be to shop around and find out what retailers are doing, if anything at all.
If anything, you could find yourself on the end of a decent runout bargain on a 4K OLED TV complete with support, even as Panasonic’s TV arm disappears from Australia.
