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Korean electronics maker Samsung has joined arch-rival Sony and brands like Bose and Bang & Olufsen in the New Zealand retail market with its first specialised store in Newmarket.
Samsung washing machines and fridges line up alongside what the brand is best known for - flat-screen TVs, music players and mobile phones, in the store which is designed to better acquaint Kiwi consumers with Samsung's diverse product range.
The Korean giant has only had a direct presence in New Zealand for a year, but has claimed second place in the LCD TV and music player markets and helped force flat-screen TV prices down as more established competitors discount to stay competitive.
Samsung's general manager of marketing, Jean-Philippe Diel said the first Samsung Plaza store was opening as the company set ambitious targets for growth in New Zealand.
"We've got quite a bit of growth forecast through Christmas. The LCD category for us has grown 480 per cent from last year," he said.
The biggest growth category next year was likely to be mobile phones.
"We're very strong with Telecom, but Vodafone has picked up nicely this year. We're aiming to be 25 per cent of the New Zealand market next year."
Although high-definition TV broadcasts had yet to reach New Zealand - Freeview will begin broadcasting in HD from the middle of next year - Diel said the move to HD was the major driver of Samsung's TV business.
"It's obvious at this stage that consumers, not being able to have experienced HD quality content, when they buy an HD-capable TV, don't immediately register the benefits," he said. "We have some big expectations with the start of HD broadcasts in New Zealand."
High-definition is also the buzz category for Sony, which opened its first Sony Style store in 1999 and now has four stores, two in Auckland with one each in Wellington and Christchurch.
Visitors to the Sony Style stores were enquiring about Blu-ray players and high-definition displays.
"But I'm not so naive to think they are a sample of the population," said Clark Hamilton, the manager of Sony's customer communications division.
Most visitors came to browse rather than buy and the bulk of Sony Style stores' revenue came from selling accessories - camera lenses and batteries, microphones and replacement batteries.
"Money through the cash register is not a good measure of their success," said Hamilton. Instead, the stores were designed to give people a place to learn about Sony products without other brands competing for their attention.
"There's no one silver bullet to marketing, but there's this indirect link between the stores and market share," said Hamilton.
Sony is increasing its chain of stores worldwide, aiming for a total of around 50. Apple has not announced plans for a New Zealand Apple store. It is working on plans for stores in Sydney and has been gradually expanding its chain worldwide.
Overseas, the big consumer electronics brands are rolling out their own retail chains as they seek to capture mindshare in the increasingly competitive market for technology products.
Manhattan's glitzy shopping districts are brimming with the concept stores of big brands - Samsung has a 929sq m state-of-the-art public showroom in the Time Warner building, near Central Park, where products that haven't been released in the US are on show to wow visitors, who also enjoy free Wi-fi internet access.
High-end audio maker Bose has close to 200 stores, where people can drop in to listen to the hi-fi systems in a dedicated theatre.
Wellington Bose store owner Digby Paape said intermittent power cuts this week in the city centre hadn't helped a sluggish start to the Christmas sales period. The average Bose system sells for $3000-$4000, which made the store a magnet for well-healed, mature buyers.
"It's mainly older people like me. The older blokes don't understand the technology as well, whereas the younger people do, but they don't have as much money," said Paape.
His best-selling product is the Bose Sound Dock, a speaker system that works with the Apple iPod.
Paape also sells TVs, stocking Samsung LCD screens alongside home theatre and audio systems.
He said the Bose stores allowed salespeople to concentrate on one brand and a handful of models rather than "new models coming in all the time in different genres and brands" in general electronics stores.
"Bose say they'll sell more of their products through Bose stores for the foreseeable future," said Paape.
Diel said Samsung would consider opening more stores if the Newmarket store proved a success.
WHAT'S IN STORE?
* Samsung joins Sony, Bose and Bang & Olufsen in opening their own stores to push their brand and products.
* Samsung is aiming to claim 25 per cent of the mobile phone market next year.
* Best known for its LCD TVs, mobile phones and music players, Samsung will use its store to show off fridges, washing machines and laser printers too.
