The Study of the Export Marketing at the Japanese Comsumer Electronic Industry

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The objectives of this thesis are to understand the distribution system of electronics industry in America, and to historically study the marketing strategies of Japanese electronic companies in America.Japanese electronics companies started export to America after the 2nd World War. The export products from late 1950's to mid 197(Ys were radios, black & white televisions, tape recorders and color televisions. Until early 1960's, American electronics distribution system was dominated by major companies, such as RCA, Zenith, GE, Motorola, Emerson, Philco, Sylvania, Magnavox and Olympic. They were using exclusive agent method to control the distribution. Under this distribution system, called 2-stage distribution system, they sold products to a distributor (middleman) for them to sell to retailers. Magnavox and Olympic were only exceptions to do direct-to-retailer selling, Under this exclusive distribution system, Japanese companies had difficulties in distributing their products in Amer … More ica.The emergence of department stores and mass merchandisers brought an innovation to this 2-stage distribution system. Department stores and mass merchandisers actively handled Japanese electronic products for their sales. For Japanese companies, those big retailers provided a great chance to penetrate into American market.Th study the marketing strategies of Japanese electronic companies in America, the strategies of Matsushita Electronics Co. and Sharp Electronics Co. were historically analyzed in the thesis. As a Japanese firm, Matsushita was the first company to establish a sales company in America. Matsushita Sales Co., founded in 1959, utilized manufacturer's sales representative, not using a distributor, to contact dealers directly. It also conducted a strong franchise to keep the product price stable. Manufacturer's sales representative were employed to expand the network, and to protect the franchise.Until 1962, Sharp exported its products through trading companies. But It was difficult to catch the needs of American market, and to expand the sales without a company-owned sales network. With this context, Sharp Sales Co. was established in New York. Sharp Sales Co. also utilized manufacturer's sales representative to expand its distribution network for radios and black & white television. Less