In response to the article "Harvey has it coming" (April 28), I would partially agree to what was said about Harvey Norman, but not the justification for opening a new retail chain.
Well, Harvey Norman bypasses resellers and deals direct with vendors. They are not a reseller's "friend" anyway, just a competitor for our customers.
Retail Chains come and go. There are problems like large overheads, inventory control and cash receipts that are not easy to deal with. Take IPC for example.
Mass marketing dollar is required to launch a new brand. It takes the sales of many PCs to cover the costs.
Margins for PCs are so slim they can hardly justify a two-tier approach. Dealers might be better off assembling their own PCs. There are already many high-quality, well-priced, award-winning local brands in the market. Take Pioneer for example. A new brand would need to be significantly better to survive.
Molly Lai,
Manager
Pioneer Computers Australia