By Patrick Avenell
SYDNEY: Philips has released details of two new ranges of kitchen and home appliance products, targeted at the 800 Class range from Breville and the Café series from Sunbeam. The first ‘aluminium’ range, consisting of premium kitchen appliances will be released on 1 October 2008, while the second range, consisting mostly of black-coloured appliances, will be released later, with Mother’s Day 2009 a key sales event.
The aluminium range includes toasters, juicers and blenders. These items are designed to match in the kitchen and bought by consumers as part of a range. Although no exact pricing details have been officially released, an indication of the target market was given by the $139 approximate price tag put on the two-slice toaster in the range. More information on the range will be generally released at the official Philips launch event on 1 July.
The black range of home and kitchen appliances was described by Philips as “high-end”, although these products will be priced at lower points to the aluminium range. The product range displayed to Current.com.au today included more models than the aluminium range, including an induction hotplate, stick and full-size blenders, kettles and toasters.
Additionally, Philips is set to release its coffee machine, with HWI general manager – sales, Jeremy Sargeant saying, “We are looking at a fully automated coffee machine in the $2,000 range for Christmas this year.”
Other new ventures for Philips include floorcare, with the expected release of a stick vacuum at around the $200 mark and a hand held cleaner, priced at approximately $120. Philips has also announced it will reenter the steam station category, with the manufacturer conceding that product awareness is currently too low and that a marketing and advertising push is needed to drive the category forward.