Demand for colour TVs exceeds supply

Press, 29 November 1978, Page 10

Demand for colour TVs exceeds supply

Money is no longer a problem when it comes to buying a colour television: the greatest difficulty is finding a set to buy. Sets have been hard to get since April, when the Government lifted hire-purchase restrictions on colour televisions. i Since July demand has greatly surpassed supply. On Monday McKenzie and Willis, Ltd, had only one set iin stock, and that had already been sold. Noel LeemHng, Ltd, which usually carries about 50 sets, had only 'six sets in stock. Other Christchurch retailers reported a similar situation. One store manager said he had received only six new sets in the last three weeks. The number of people wanting colour sets has become so great that many stores have given up keeping waiting lists of customers. A spokesman for the Cashel Street branch of the New Zealand Farmers’ CoOp. said that the store had about 500 people wanting to buy colour sets. “It became so ridiculous we had to give up keeping a list,” he said. Two other big city stores, Haywrights and the Public Service Investment Store, reported big waiting lists and very few sets available. Although two retailers said that most of the sets they sold were for cash, the

relaxing of the hire-purchase {regulations appeared to have icaused the shortage. A spokesman for the [Farmers said he could not ■give a figure, but hire-pur-chase sales of sets from his {store had been worth “mililions of dollars." According to figures giver [by the Department of Statistics, 14,367 colour television sets were bought on ; hire-purchase during the {first nine months of this {year. In the corresponding {period last year 7665 sets .were bought on hire-pur-chase. i Manufacturers appear {wary about increasing production in case sales suddenly drop and they are left with a surplus of unsold sets. But two big manufacturers — Philips and National — say they were caught unawares by the Government’s relaxation. The company secretary for Philips (N.Z.) Ltd (Mr G. L. Noah) predicts that the shortage will last about three months. Speaking from Wellington, Mr Noah said that by early next year manufacturers would have enough overseas components to increase production. “From the time you decide you need parts, and from the time you get them, takes between six and nine months,” he’said. “Last February we had

{more sets than we knew What to do with. By May (the whole situation had changed; the big increase in sales has swallowed our : component reserves,” he said. I Mr Noah’s comments were supported by the National Panasonic Service, a division of Fisher and Paykel. Ltd. Both manufacturers said that the shortage was not {limited to Christchurch. “It iis the same all over the {country,” said a spokesman I for National, in Christchurch, j Most of the components in {a colour television set come {from overseas. Philips comI ponents come from the {Netherlands, and National i parts from Japan. . To increase production, {both manufacturers have reported to air-freighting components into the country. This has proved expensive. “The cost is crippling,” said Mr Noah. “We can bring in small parts, but we cannot afford to fly in big things like picture tubes.” Although Philips has been { following a non-replacement i staff policy, National I appears to be building up its { staff to meet the increased demand. A year ago, when National’s warehouses were filled with colour sets, about 600 workers were laid off. Since the April boom many |of these have been reI employed.