Home > Appliances > Exclusive: Hitachi Reenters Consumer Electronics Market Senior Samsung Hire

Exclusive: Hitachi Reenters Consumer Electronics Market Senior Samsung Hire

As exclusively tipped by ChannelNews, Hitachi Australia is set to reenter the consumer electronics market in Australia.

The Japanese company, who have in the past been selling their TVs and selected appliances via Sydney-based distributor Tempo, have hired Frank Malcaus – the former head of appliances at Samsung,

Malcaus is an experienced appliance executive who helped build Samsung’s appliance business spanning large white goods.

ChannelNews understands that an internal battle broke out with Hitachi having to review their operations in Australia.

Back in 2010, Hitachi exited the consumer electronics business after the company was accused by Harvey Norman of selling televisions that were not full-HD.

The battle over 720p and 1080p definition led to Hitachi retrenching staff and closing down their consumer electronics business.

In his new role, Malcaus has been given the task of getting Hitachi back into the Australian appliance market. He will report to Gaurav Sethi, General Manager for  Channel Business Group.

The timing of the move as Sharp, an arch-rival of Hitachi, struggles to grow their consumer electronics business.

Hitachi have an extensive range of both large and small appliances in the premium refrigeration market. They are number one in both China and Japan. 

It was only recently that Tempo held discussions with Hitachi management with a  view to take on the Hitachi appliance business.

In an exclusive interview with ChannelNews Frank Malcaus said “a primary objective will be to build the infrastructure around the Hitachi consumer electronics products that allow us to deliver exceptional service”.

“I have already seen the product range and it is among the best there is out there, we believe that there is an excellent opportunity for Hitachi in the Australian market we will spend the next few weeks will be building out the support we need while engaging with retailers in Australia. We have already spoken to several retailers and we have a lot of interest in our product range in particular the premium end of our product range which does extremely well across several markets including the home market of Japan and in China”.

A spokesperson for Tempo said that the company is still, the appointed distributor of Hitachi TVs in Australia. “We currently working with Hitachi to launch a new range of their TVs in Australia. We have had a lot of success with this plan and while hotel she concentrating on appliances we will be expanding the Hitachi range of TVs in Australia.”



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