LG continues the winning spree
 LG, the 2007 Channel Champion in the ODD category, ruled the channel mindshare in 2008 as well. The vendor continued to do well on channel expectations with better marketing and branding, warranty support, price-performance, and channel policies and relationships.
Both Samsung and LG were troubled by parallel imports. Samsung was also troubled by patchy product availability, and, according to many respondents, during the OND quarter Samsung ODDs were barely available in the market. However, the availability has become normal in January.
Samsung also saw an increase in in-warranty failures, and many respondents said that they dissuaded customers from buying the brand because there was a recurring tray problem. According to respondents, within five to six months of purchase the media tray in Samsung ODDs refuses to open or gets stuck.
As a result, Samsung was relegated to the number three position behind Sony, which churned out another consistent performance.
Price-performance
On product features and performance, all the brands enjoy equal customer perception although the channel believes that Samsung’s quality has gone down in the past one-and-half year. Sony is the most price-competitive, followed by Samsung and LG. With the MOP of the entry-level DVD reaching Rs 1,100, even a 10 percent price difference amounts to only an additional Rs 100, hence the price difference doesn’t matter at all. Most respondents believe that DVD writers have reached the end of their life-cycle. However, its exit will depend largely on how fast Blu-ray sees market adoption.
Product availability
In terms of market coverage, all three brands are available in almost all the cities polled. However, respondents from tier-3 and tier-4 cities in the eastern region said that Sony is not properly stocked by local sub-distributors. Samsung ODDs faced supply constraints throughout the OND quarter, which helped parallel importers. No communication was received by authorized Samsung distributors on the sudden shortage. LG continues to be confronted by parallel imports, and many respondents feel that the company needs to take tough measures to prevent or curtail the inflows.
Marketing & branding
While LG and Samsung have similar brand pull, the former did well on local marketing. A consistent feedback from many Samsung partners was that the company lacked the marketing aggression shown earlier and lacked channel schemes.
LG’s channel communication was also ranked higher as it is swifter than its peers in disseminating information about new products, prices and schemes. Sony was ranked ahead of Samsung, even on this parameter.
Service & support
This criterion included sub-criteria such as DoA (dead on arrival) issues, in-warranty failure rates, repair and replacement turnaround, local service points, and warranty escalation mechanisms.
LG polled as the brand with the best warranty support among its peers, with the least amount of DoA and in-warranty failures, and the quickest service turnaround. While Samsung has a wider service network compared to Sony, it suffered due to in-warranty failures. Samsung also failed to win channel confidence last year due to the high number of in-warranty failures compared to its peers.
Sony ranked second, ahead of Samsung, as it reported less in-warranty failures. However, a common complaint from smaller cities is that the process of getting warranty has become cumbersome because Rashi demands not just the bill of purchase but also the package with the serial number.
With the MOP of the entry-level DVD at rock-bottom, many respondents feel that vendors should have over-the-counter replacement for products since the cost of repairing the product often exceeds the price of a new product.
Channel relationship
Resellers rated competing brands on various aspects including quality of channel managers, fairness and transparency of vendor policies, and management of channel issues. LG’s policies and processes were rated better and more efficient compared to peers. Despite having the highest number of channel incentive schemes during the year, the vendor was timely in giving out incentives and sales back-ends. According to respondents, both Sony and Samsung are late in payment of scheme incentives and sales back-ends. LG’s escalation management is swifter, and its channel managers more accessible and friendly compared to peers. In case of Sony, its distributor Rashi, which manages all escalation issues, is doing a good job.
Winner in the Optical Disk Drives Category in Channel Champions 2007
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