Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Tuesday, 09 September 2008 16:52
Opinion and Analysis
Page 1 of 2
No, there’s no need to take a Bex and lie down at the news that yet
another brand of consumer electronics is launching in Australia. The
new brand is an old one: Memorex – and we bet they’ll want to put a hex
on competitors’ sales!
Ok, so we all know that sex sells, so the big question will be: will
Memorex sell?
It’s a brand I haven’t seen for years down under, but I certainly do remember it as a brand of floppy disks and backup tapes from the 80s, and from the quotes in the press release, Memorex branded tech is still on sale in Australia as “recordable media” today.
Billing itself as a “modern consumer electronics brand offering style and innovative design at a reasonable price”, Memorex is a US brand, which its PR company says is highly respected.
They’re readying themselves for an onslaught into the Australian consumer electronics market, just in time for the biggest shopping season of them all: the fourth quarter, end of year, Christmas sales extravaganza.
Although very little consumer electronics technology is manufactured in the US any more, with almost everything coming from China, (even iPods and iPhones), Memorex is taking advantage of its brand power to shake up the CE market as best it can.
That said, whether Memorex tech is manufactured in China is unknown, but I’d be surprised if it wasn’t, not that this is any indicator of any lack of quality in 2008.
Set to arrive in stores from “early November”, Memorex will start by selling “iPod clock radios, audio systems and portable boom boxes, DVD players and a unique karaoke speaker system designed for use with latest iPod players” – with a promise of more products to come, most likely dependent on just how successful the initial rollout is in this market.
Brie Quarmby, marketing and communications executive for the Memorex brand in Australia said: “While Memorex recordable media is available in Australia, the brand here is largely unknown.
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