intrsting chat with a staff member at currys in leeds...

[sundayraver]

The assistant told me as of next year they will stop all trading with sony products, I think he said it was something to do with the PS3, apparently Sony want to increase the price months after launching rather than decrease the price. Intresting stuff seeing as currys is the same company as dixons and pc world. He also said something about the games having codes or locks, where if you play an ORIGINAL game in 1 ps3, it wont play on any other ps3. If all this is true Ill be steering clear! He also mentioned that some blueray drives in computers have been playing up. I might just get me a 360, the picture on the instore demo playing on a panny viera plasma was jaw dropping!

[spocktra]

Would take anything that a member of staff at curry`s with a shovel of salt.Generally their knowledge of all things AV is very limited.As for demos running in store.Check out the contrast and sharpness settings,100% i`ll bet.

[dan653]

what he said, but a shovel of salt might be an understatement i seriously doubt they would know more than you, me or anyone else on here unless they were actually involved in the pecurment and descision making areas of the dsg group and then they would have to be in the upper echelons of the corporate side of things and even then they'd have to have some very special contacts, sounds more like a bunch of rumours they'd read off the internet being circulated by anti sony kiddies, put together with something more believable like them no longer stocking bravia lcds (purely speculation on my part) or something as sony are really now pushing their own high street/online sony centres (better money thant selling through a dying breed of large electrical retailers). and as for blu-ray of course theres going be some teething troubles it a brand new tech. anyhow if i were going to start scare mongering about ps3 troubles it the CELL processor i be worried about; but thats a whole other thread

[Setenza]

Chinny reckon

[nsherin]

Unlikely that Currys will stop selling Sony kit. Love them or hate them, Sony have always been a popular name that people will continue to buy - either for the perceived quality and reputation or the style and the brand. The PSP and Playstation products and brands have such a large following, that it would be suicidal if they stopped stocking them.

Like all companies, they've made some lemons, but they also make some excellent kit too. Case in point being their TVs - I still have a soft spot for Trinitron tubes - the 32" CRT my grandad bought last year is a stunner. Their ES/QS ranges of audio kit - not always easy to get hold of (normally only through Sony Centres) sounds sublime. Sadly, the QS range seems to be being discontinued - glad I snapped up that MDS-JB980 MiniDisc deck in the January sale! Obviously going with the mass market, where many would rather go into a shop and buy a 5.1 Home Cinema in a Box kit, rather than quality seperates, which is more of a niche market.

[Singh400]

...and since when does anyone here listen to any sales person instore? 99% know jack ****.

Currys not selling Sony gear? Forget it, they would see a massive drop in profits compared with competitors.

[Garrett]

Originally Posted by spocktra

Would take anything that a member of staff at curry`s with a shovel of salt.Generally their knowledge of all things AV is very limited.As for demos running in store.Check out the contrast and sharpness settings,100% i`ll bet.

100% on setting will not always give you the best picture; if that was the case we all would have them on 100% in our homes.

[neilmcl]

Its apparently true that the Currys/Dixons group have now stopped/in the process of stopping the sale of Sony LCDs/Plasmas due to unfair pricing terms imposed by Sony, I hadn't heard it was going to be all products. This has been discussed on the LCD and plasma forum but it was inconclusive as to whether this was a DSG decision or maybe Sonys.

If its not true try going on to the Currys website to order a Sony LCD.

[dUnKle]

Was there not a story in one (maybe more) of the papers last week about this ?

Could have sworn I have reda that there are a few chains that are looking to stop selling Sony products due to unfair pricing

[hottstuff]

Originally Posted by neilmcl

If its not true try going on to the Currys website to order a Sony LCD.

Yes , they dont have sonly listed.

[overkill]

Sony have recieved complaints from within the industry about their pricing for years. They did when I was still working in AV, and that was a few years back now. Their mark-up was amongst the worst, and their pricing could never be called sharp. They would also get stroppy at the drop of hat if you even thought about discounting. We had visit in one store from the national sales manager, demanding to know if we had discounted some TV's - on the shop floor in front of customers!

There have been problems with US outlets over pricing, and rumbles in this country that stores are finally sick of it.

I think for once a Dixo's man might have been closer to the truth than you'd think (or ever expect!).

[gringottsdirect]

Allegedly its a bit of brinkmanship brought about by Sony changing their policy regarding compensating dealers when product prices are repositioned.
The major price deflation is with LCDs ( Sony no longer market plasma in UK ), if a model drops from say £999.99 to £899.99, normally a dealer would be compensated on his stock to allow the sale of old stock at the new price without taking a hit on profit margin.
Allegedly Sony have changed their policy so they will only compensate stock held less than one month.
Assumedly DSG feel this is inappropriate to their business model of holding large amounts of stock so are making their point to Sony.
Obviously this barely affects most online traders as they carry much less stock - often only ordering in when they have a confirmed sale.
Interesting to see what happens as in theory Sony could be setting a precedent, if they can get away with it no doubt the others ( Panasonic, Philips, Toshiba, JVC, etc ) will follow suit.
DSGs most popular brand has been LG for a while anyway so maybe they would rather do without Sony - probably hurting Sony's market share AND DSG too.

[Steve.EX]

I also understood the above to be true with regards to Currys etc and Sony.

[Miyazaki]

If DSG don't stock ps3 that will be a huge dent for sony IMO. Especially with all the disasterous marketing for the ps3 so far.

[spocktra]

Originally Posted by Garrett

100% on setting will not always give you the best picture; if that was the case we all would have them on 100% in our homes.

Very true but it will SEEM to an average punter,that the picture is sharper.