TWICE:
How has pricing held up for
CE?
Tom Roper, SED International:
There have been lots of deals in the tier
3 space. Tier 1 TV vendors are looking
at increasing rebates. With home audio
and cameras there has not been much
movement in price.
Brent McCarty, Ingram Micro
Consumer Electrobics:
On some of
the more expensive products we always
face the challenge of declining ASP’s
but accessories, headphones and cameras
seem to be holding their own. I
think the vendors do a great job creating
more value by improving functionality
while maintaining prices versus the
prior year.
Bill Stewart, Petra Industries:
Our
industry is constantly changing based
on what new innovation is out or what
new competition springs up, but overall,
we aren’t seeing any out of the ordinary
pricing fluctuations.
Mark Gustavson, Wynit:
The competition
with online aggregators continues
to compress margins. Retailers that add value with bundles, services,
or technical expertise seem to be
gaining business from consumers
who prefer a personal approach.
This is especially evident in the
camera category.
Dennis Holzer, Powerhouse:
Pricing continues to spiral downward,
with profits doing the same
in all categories associated. Unfortunately,
no category has really
been exempt in CE. With everyone
from manufacturers, distributors
and dealers feeling the pinch, we
continuously look for and offer innovative
ways to help our dealer’s
value add so they can increase their
profits. To also help offset the profit
deficiencies, we continue to take
advantage of and pass along manufacturer
sponsored opportunities
which help provide some additional
profits.
Fred Towns, New Age Electrobics:
Retailers are trying to
stimulate customer traffic to their
stores through aggressive pricing.
While we typically see an uptick in
cameras this time of year, results
have not been as robust.
Rob Eby, D&H Distributing:
TV displays have continued to see
reduced pricing, although new
functionality such as Internet-connected
television is holding interest
in the market. Cameras and headphones
have held steady in their
pricing.
Michael Flink, ADI Americas:
We are seeing downward pricing
pressure across the audio/video
receiver market and these products
now include more features at
lower price points, which is a trend
consistent across the video market.
Speaker products are continuing to
hold their price very well, along with
commercial A/V solutions.
