Kolin to clear out inventories of Samsung home appliances

Taipei, April 22, 2003 (CENS)--Kolin Technology Inc., an affiliate of Kolin Corp., has recently begun clearing out inventories of home appliances made by the South Korea-based Samsung Electronics Corp.

Samsung has threatened to end its ties with Kolin, which is currently the South Korean company's exclusive sales agent in Taiwan. The move has prompted Kolin to unload its remaining stocks of Samsung products through several local retailers, including Tsann Kuen 3C and Daiichi Electric Taiwan.

Kolin will sell Samsung 574-liter refrigerators through the Tsann Kuen and Daiichi chain stores for NT$27,900 (US$801.7 at US$1:NT$34.8), or NT$2,000 (US$57.47) less than similar models of LG refrigerators, Samsung's nearest rival in South Korea. An industry analyst anticipated the price decline to badly hurt Samsung's brand image.

The fallout between Kolin and Samsung is rumored to have been triggered by the hard-to-reach sales targets imposed by Samsung. Samsung has also been hit by the increased sales of unlicensed home appliances at discount prices in Taiwan.

Herlan Corp., a former sales agent of Samsung refrigerators in Taiwan, said that Kolin and Samsung are likely to break their ties if the South Korean firm cannot control the volume of unlicensed home appliances sold in Taiwan.

Samsung recently introduced high-priced liquid crystal display (LCD) and plasma display panel (PDP) television sets in Taiwan. Its 40-inch LCD TV is priced at NT$399,000 (US$11,465) and its 63-inch PDP TV sells for NT$1.19 million (US$34,190).

Samsung is expected to sell its home appliances directly through retail outlets in Taiwan. The company said it will combine the sales of home appliances, communication devices and information appliances through the same distribution channels here.