NEWS: Panasonic exits Australian TV market - Beginning of the end?

I had a Samsung plasma (first HDTV) and the motion handling was great thanks to the screen.
 
I see so much love online from people still rocking Panasonic plasmas. You plasma folk really do hold them in high regard. Never owned one myself but I love the love you lot give them.


Back in the day if you want a tv 37 inch or over it had to be a plasma & if you wanted something smaller it was lcd that was the choice

Rear projections were being phased out at the time
 
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Yes, here in Canada only the smaller specialty stores carry Panasonic. The store I have been dealing with for 20 years still has Panasonic and I've seen the GZ2000 and GZ1000 and they are stunning OLED's. I really really want one.


Hilarious. So Panasonic reps claim they can't sell them in the U.S. because of large cheap TVs but right across the border they have the same issue with only smaller specialty stores carrying Panasonic. Ultimately this doesn't look good long term and I wouldn't be surprised to see them pull out of North America all together in another year and possibly all markets in a year or two.
 
One interesting aspect of previously pulling out of the USA. Why didn't they leave a online Panasonic store for the TV's even if it was only the top line OLED's. It could of been serviced from Canada & Mexico.
Suggests the sales were not just low but incredibly low.
 
Hilarious. So Panasonic reps claim they can't sell them in the U.S. because of large cheap TVs but right across the border they have the same issue with only smaller specialty stores carrying Panasonic. Ultimately this doesn't look good long term and I wouldn't be surprised to see them pull out of North America all together in another year and possibly all markets in a year or two.
Wouldn't be so sure on all markets. Places like the UK Panasonic is still one of the top brands stocked at every retailer you can think of big and small.
 
Hilarious. So Panasonic reps claim they can't sell them in the U.S. because of large cheap TVs but right across the border they have the same issue with only smaller specialty stores carrying Panasonic. Ultimately this doesn't look good long term and I wouldn't be surprised to see them pull out of North America all together in another year and possibly all markets in a year or two.
You are resorting to too much doom and gloom, in most asian countries panasonic tv's are still a household name and seen by videophiles on the same level as sony. Just because they pulled out of US hasnt changed or affected how the brand is looked at in other countries. I dont think most people in my country, save few ones like me that browse US tech forums, would be even aware that panasonic no longer sells tv's in US.
 
Something tells me HZ2000 will be their last OLED TV.
 
You are resorting to too much doom and gloom, in most asian countries panasonic tv's are still a household name and seen by videophiles on the same level as sony. Just because they pulled out of US hasnt changed or affected how the brand is looked at in other countries. I dont think most people in my country, save few ones like me that browse US tech forums, would be even aware that panasonic no longer sells tv's in US.


It's not just the U.S......It's U.S. and now Australia. Thats a terrible trend. Thats a combined 22 trillion GDP that higher than the entire EU combined. Not a small market. Add on their presence in Canada is basically nothing at this point. OLED is a small market and LG and Sony outsell them in the UK. Even looking at Crampton and Moore where you would think Panasonic would do well their OLEDs are positioned toward the bottom Televisions - 4K, Ultra HD, Plasma, LED, OLED & LCD TVs | Crampton and Moore
 
It's not just the U.S......It's U.S. and now Australia. Thats a terrible trend. Thats a combined 22 trillion GDP that higher than the entire EU combined. Not a small market. Add on their presence in Canada is basically nothing at this point. OLED is a small market and LG and Sony outsell them in the UK. Even looking at Crampton and Moore where you would think Panasonic would do well their OLEDs are positioned toward the bottom Televisions - 4K, Ultra HD, Plasma, LED, OLED & LCD TVs | Crampton and Moore
Each market is different so I wouldn't compare those 2 markets with europe. Just like tcl is a big brand in the us but is trying to break into the heavily saturated european market. Same goes for hisense. All this doom and gloom is excessive imo and unless we have the hard data that tells us the full picture all we can do is speculate.
 
Panasonic were massive in Australia for a very long time.

I can’t see them continuing to sell OLEDs beyond 2020.

US was a big shock but now Australia.... writing on the wall I think.

Really hope they come back once MicroLED matures, but I doubt that..
 
I expect my next TV to be Sony.
I expect mine probably will be as well. I will no longer buy any Panasonic products. They have lost me and my area of influence. They can go jump as far as I am concerned.
 
Same thing happened with Pioneer.
 
True, but Pioneer took their eye off the market, so what they did offer nobody wanted, as I recall. PL12D, anyone?

Clem
 
I see so much love online from people still rocking Panasonic plasmas. You plasma folk really do hold them in high regard. Never owned one myself but I love the love you lot give them.

Then go and buy one - 2nd hand off ebay or whereever. My mate's 37" plasma was a bit underspecced at being 720p so he went out and bought a 42" one. He was telling me that the old owner really wasn't happy parting with it, possibly because it cost my mate £30. They are still going strong but nobody wants them so you can pick one up for a song.
 
As I said before, HZ-2000 could be their last. Time will tell.
 
Maybe that is for the best.
 
It's not just the U.S......It's U.S. and now Australia. Thats a terrible trend. Thats a combined 22 trillion GDP that higher than the entire EU combined. Not a small market. Add on their presence in Canada is basically nothing at this point. OLED is a small market and LG and Sony outsell them in the UK. Even looking at Crampton and Moore where you would think Panasonic would do well their OLEDs are positioned toward the bottom Televisions - 4K, Ultra HD, Plasma, LED, OLED & LCD TVs | Crampton and Moore
Markets are all different, non availibility in US or australia has no bearing on the brand popularity in other markets. People here aren't giving a thought to what is available or not available in america or australia when going out to shop a tv. Just like someone who goes out to buy a vizio tv in america would not care that vizio is not available in europe and asia. And like i said, 99 percent people in my country wouldn't be aware that panasonic doesnt sell tv's in america. What markets they cater to are purely business decisions based on profitability. And the country's GDP or how big the economy is irrelevant, the company assesses the profitability of their business model in the country. If they feel a market isnt being profitable to them, they'll pull the plug. In US, panasonic suffered losses to the tune of several millions towards the end of the plasma days and around 2016 they called it quits. Panasonic still does well in asian countries, their brand perception among consumers is still the same as it was in the plasma days. In terms of oled sales, they dont sell as much as lg, but then neither does sony or any other oled manufacturer. LG oleds in overall market sales outsell all other brands by >2:1 worldwide. But among videophiles, panasonic is considered a more premium choice (on the same level as sony) compared to lg.
 
Then go and buy one - 2nd hand off ebay or whereever. My mate's 37" plasma was a bit underspecced at being 720p so he went out and bought a 42" one. He was telling me that the old owner really wasn't happy parting with it, possibly because it cost my mate £30. They are still going strong but nobody wants them so you can pick one up for a song.
I already have Panasonic's replacement for plasma, the Panasonic DX902. Still one of the best full array local dimming led TVs out there. Panasonic made it to give plasma lovers something to move on to in 2016/2017. I also just purchased a Panasonic OLED, the GZ950. So I'm good for a while.
 
It's not just the U.S......It's U.S. and now Australia. Thats a terrible trend. Thats a combined 22 trillion GDP that higher than the entire EU combined. Not a small market. Add on their presence in Canada is basically nothing at this point. OLED is a small market and LG and Sony outsell them in the UK. Even looking at Crampton and Moore where you would think Panasonic would do well their OLEDs are positioned toward the bottom Televisions - 4K, Ultra HD, Plasma, LED, OLED & LCD TVs | Crampton and Moore
Panasonic OLED sales have been good. Panasonic said they have done well I'n sales and reception hence why they went from making just one model to several different models.
 
Panasonic still does well in asian countries, their brand perception among consumers is still the same as it was in the plasma days. In terms of oled sales, they dont sell as much as lg, but then neither does sony or any other oled manufacturer. LG oleds in overall market sales outsell all other brands by >2:1 worldwide. But among videophiles, panasonic is considered a more premium choice (on the same level as sony) compared to lg.

Correct Sony doesn't sell as much as LG but they sell more OLEDs than Panasonic globally which is evident of Sony selling more markets like the UK and being in large markets like US and Australia. Panasonic is considered premium but so is Sony. I know Phillips is going to expand to U.S. this year but things will get tough as TCL enters in the OLED space though Phillips will be in the premium space.
 
Panasonic OLED sales have been good. Panasonic said they have done well I'n sales and reception hence why they went from making just one model to several different models.



Do you have a source on OLED sales and which markets?

Panasonic is also still in just 55" and 65" sizes. They have yet to release a 77" version and 48" hasn't been mentioned. Possibly they do stick around past 2020 but their outlook doesn't look as good as Sony and especially LG(then again no one sells like them). They seem to be occupying the premium space with Sony and Phillips in the middle. The big issue though is the premium space isn't that premium when you have the C9 winning a blind shoot over a top end custom model. It's a tight market.
 
Do you have a source on OLED sales and which markets?

Panasonic is also still in just 55" and 65" sizes. They have yet to release a 77" version and 48" hasn't been mentioned. Possibly they do stick around past 2020 but their outlook doesn't look as good as Sony and especially LG(then again no one sells like them). They seem to be occupying the premium space with Sony and Phillips in the middle. The big issue though is the premium space isn't that premium when you have the C9 winning a blind shoot over a top end custom model. It's a tight market.
Nope. I see Panasonic say in a video on Youtube last year that they dipped their toe in the OLED market with one model in 2017 and because it was so popular they expanded to 3 different models for 2018/2019 etc. I know Panasonic is very popular in the UK as every retailer in the UK large and small stock them. When i purchased a Panasonic GZ950 OLED recently from Hughes they were selling well in store. Same as around Black Friday 2019 when i purchased a Samsung Q90R. Samsung QLED's and Panasonic TV's were literally flying off the shelves in large numbers, significantly more than anything else. The QLED's had £1500 off plus a free high end soundbar so it was easy to see why they were flying of shelves at that time. But the Panasonics just had a little money knocked off and nothing free with it. In Hughes they hold Panasonic as the cream of the crop. Especially in the high end and mid range bracket. Im sure sales figures are out there if you google hard enough.
As for LG, LG are heavily in debt and LG Display and moving away from OLED to focus on Micro LED. LG came out and said that OLED was problematic and had a high return rate and problem with burn in etc was an issue. So LG Display has filed for 2 Micro LED patents.

Found this for Panasonic 2019 stats...
 

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I know Panasonic is very popular in the UK as every retailer in the UK large and small stock them. When i purchased a Panasonic GZ950 OLED recently from Hughes they were selling well in store. Same as around Black Friday 2019 when i purchased a Samsung Q90R. Samsung QLED's and Panasonic TV's were literally flying off the shelves in large numbers, significantly more than anything else. The QLED's had £1500 off plus a free high end soundbar so it was easy to see why they were flying of shelves at that time. But the Panasonics just had a little money knocked off and nothing free with it. In Hughes they hold Panasonic as the cream of the crop. Especially in the high end and mid range bracket. Im sure sales figures are out there if you google hard enough.
As for LG, LG are heavily in debt and LG Display and moving away from OLED to focus on Micro LED. LG came out and said that OLED was problematic and had a high return rate and problem with burn in etc was an issue. So LG Display has filed for 2 Micro LED patents.


Search for them on Currys they are down the list with less reviews than Sony. I would say third place OLED on the site


Search for them on Crampton and Moore with is more high end they are again trend towards the bottom for OLED. GZ950 does decent but again thats a bargain price for it's quality.


Google trends for the past 12 months UK. Sony a little more that twice Panasonic.

LG 36
Sony 11
Panasonic 5

Google trends for the past 12 months World. Sony hold up better here with 3 times the searches over Panasonic which makes sense being in more markets.

LG 35
Sony 9
Panasonic 3

The worldwide search is pretty interesting as you dig. Obviously LG OLED dominates searches in every country. Some misc observations from what Google is capturing;
  • New Zealand, Slovakia, Czechia are three countries where Panasonic and Sony are tied. Everywhere else Sony OLED is ahead in local searches.
  • Panasonic OLED in Australia seems to be almost on par with the UK funny enough.
  • Panasonic OLED is very strong in New Zealand and Gemany. Basically they seem to be mostly generating traffic in Europe and Oceania. Little web traffic coming out of North America or South America.
  • No Panasonic OLED traffic is coming out of Africa, middle east and for some reason Asia seems to be next to nothing. Curious on Asia because Panasonic TV generates much more results relative to others.

Obviously search don't equal directly to profit or sales but it gives an idea of who is searching for what where. It seems accurate in the sense people in the U.S. do not search for Panasonic OLEDs which is accurate without selling them there whereas markets like France and Germany you see more data.


Found this for Panasonic 2019 stats...

Difficult extrapolate anything from those stats because it's comparing Panasonic corp which sells different products to entities like LG Electronics which again sells different products. For example LG Electronics doesn't sell mirror-less cameras and lens but Panasonic does.
 

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