Radio Shack goes to China....
LoopyByteloose
Posts: 12,537
Okay it is the day after Christmas and in the local Taipei Times I see that CyberMart (owned by Hon Hai Precision Industry Co.) sold 500 Radio Shack 60 inch LED TVs in under an hour. They had expected to sell them all in 3 days.
Apparently the demand in Taiwan for large screen TVs is ninefold greater than the actual supply.
So it seems that Radio Shack is now setting its sights of selling branded electronics in China and Taiwan via the intrenet. And since Christmas is over, Radio Shack still has Chinese New Year to move these big ticket items.
So now it seems that all of CyberMart's outlets will be selling Radio Shack 60 inch TVs, starting Friday. The price is NT$58,800 at NT$29.18/$1USD.
Up until now, Radio Shack has not had any presence in Taiwan. I can't figure out if Hon Hai is really intending to expand the Radio Shack brand or just moving inventory that was originally destined for the USA and other Radio Shack outlets.
Apparently the demand in Taiwan for large screen TVs is ninefold greater than the actual supply.
So it seems that Radio Shack is now setting its sights of selling branded electronics in China and Taiwan via the intrenet. And since Christmas is over, Radio Shack still has Chinese New Year to move these big ticket items.
So now it seems that all of CyberMart's outlets will be selling Radio Shack 60 inch TVs, starting Friday. The price is NT$58,800 at NT$29.18/$1USD.
Up until now, Radio Shack has not had any presence in Taiwan. I can't figure out if Hon Hai is really intending to expand the Radio Shack brand or just moving inventory that was originally destined for the USA and other Radio Shack outlets.
Comments
That's $2015... Shouldn't they be much cheaper than that? RS sells a Panasonic online in the US for $2100, full price, free ship: http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=13053468
I have noticed in the world of electronics there is not much of a difference in what is paid in china from what is paid in america.
The Ipad mini ( if you do the monetary conversion on it ) is actuary more expensive in china then it is the USA....
Many products in Taiwan seem to be overruns and surpluses. Also, the USA restricts some of the best from export.. even though it may have been made in Taiwan originally.
In this case, my impression is that Hon Hai was the OEM for the Radio Shack TVs and is trying to find a market for these 60" models due to a lackluster Christmas in the USA. And if they can leverage this into a new brand identity in China, they are willing to do that as well. It may be that Radio Shack has offered them a position as manager for the brand and franchise in China and Taiwan.
Whatever it is, it is a bit change for Radio Shack.
http://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/12/26/these-companies-will-continue-to-fail/
It has now moved up to something like 79%, but that still is nowhere near the rosy ratios of the halcyon days of computer production.
Demand seems to be slipping away.
While I like to see myself as very supportive of Parallax and what they do, I begin to wonder if making the Propeller2 is a good idea at this point in time. People seem to have lost interest in electronic magic and I have no idea what might revive their interest or when.
It seems pretty clear that Hon-Hai just has a lot of unshipped Radio Shack branded product that it wants to unload. But being the clever sort, they are promoting the product as a new luxury brand.
The odd thing is that this has worked for others in the past and quite a few 'near death' brands have been revived and become household names in Asia - toothpaste, clothing, and so on.