Japan’s biggest home electric appliance retailer said it will sell more products from foreign manufacturers, further loosening Japanese makers’ grip on their home market.
Yamada Denki Co., which has the highest sales in the sector, said it expected consumers to welcome a broader range of products from abroad.
Most of the electric appliances sold by volume retailers in Japan have traditionally been made by Japanese firms. In recent years, however, foreign manufacturers such as Apple Inc. of the United States and Samsung Electronics Co. of South Korea have made significant inroads.
In the summer, Yamada sold TVs manufactured by LG Electronics Inc. of South Korea in response to a surge in demand prior to the switch from analog to digital terrestrial broadcasting on July 24.
Previously, Yamada has tended to rely on agents within Japan when purchasing foreign products, but is now looking to build its own procurement networks abroad. It opened its first outlet in China last year.
"That gives us the advantage of being able to deal directly with Chinese manufacturers," said a senior company official.
With Japanese manufacturers retreating from some product categories, not only because of price competition but because of difficulty in keeping up in product development, market analysts are predicting a rise in the prominence of imported electrical goods on Japan’s domestic market.
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