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Philips has announced it is pulling out of the Australian market for televisions in December of this year, and will instead focus on health and beauty products.
Sarah Campbell Philips’ manager of corporate communications said the company will continue selling associated products such as home theatre kits and iPod docks but is “looking at a distributor model”.
Campbell refused to comment on how this would affect the sales of the new SoundBars designed specifically to complement Philips’ TV range.
She said that costs associated with tailoring tuners specifically for Australia and New Zealand were behind the decision to discontinue sales.
Campbell added that the final TV shipment will be in October, and that Australia won’t see any new models by the end of the year, including the anticipated follow-up to the Aurea.
“This announcement is in keeping with the company’s strategic direction in pursuing a health and well-being focus,” Campbell said.
Campbell said up to 40 people in Philips’ consumer division will be affected by job cuts.
Times are tough in the industry, with Hitachi and Fujitsu also pulling out of the local market in the last year, and Pioneer recently announcing it was halting plasma production to focus on R&D.
