AI no match for big screen TVs, billionaire retailer Gerry Harvey says

Artificial intelligence in home appliances remains a futuristic concept for Gerry Harvey, who says Australians are more impressed by new mega TVs.

Harvey Norman chairman Gerry Harvey sent a sales team to CES, the world’s biggest consumer electronics show, in Las Vegas where big screen TVs impressed him more than AI-powered devices.

Billionaire retailer Gerry Harvey says artificial intelligence is a “big thing for the future — huge — but hasn’t happened yet”.

This is despite the world’s biggest electronics manufacturers touting their use of the much-hyped technology on anything from TVs to fridges to space age-style robots.

Mr Harvey knows a trend when he sees one. He opened his first store in 1961 — not long after vacuum cleaner magnate Alex Lewyt predicted his appliances would one day become atomic powered.

It later became known as one of the worst business predictions. But there have been other fads which came as quickly as they went — remember 3D TVs? Throughout it all, Mr Harvey has continued to grow his business, which is now a multinational empire spanning Australia, Malaysia, Singapore and Europe. His secret? Cutting through the hype and spin, and stocking his stores with what consumers want.

He sent a team to CES, the world’s biggest consumer electronics trade show in Las Vegas earlier this month, where AI was everywhere.

But Mr Harvey said he was not convinced about AI use in transforming everyday household appliances.

“At the moment, it’s all talk,” he told The Australian.

“As far as AI is concerned my view is — and theirs (the sales team) is the same — is we talk about AI but what is it and what has happened? Even a robot vacuum cleaner, they say ‘this one’s AI’ but ‘Oh, how?’ right? So that’s the end of artificial intelligence as I see it.”

But Mr Harvey isn’t dismissive of the technology, he just doesn’t believe it has arrived in home appliances yet.

“My view is it’s a big thing for the future. Huge. But it hasn’t happened yet.”

CES is more than a PR blitz. It’s a place where deals are made, with retailers across the globe scrutinising and testing the latest products, with manufacturers eager to fill their order books.

So what impressed Mr Harvey at CES, which attracted more than 4000 exhibitors and about 130,000 attendees? Despite the event showcasing wild technology from holograms and flying cars to robotic prams and Jetsons-style electronic maids, Mr Harvey said CES boiled down to one story: big screen TVs.

“That’s a big thing for us,” Mr Harvey said, highlighting Hisense and TCL unveiling 110 and 115 inch flagship TVs respectively.

“We will sell a lot of those. These TVs have become so cheap and so big in the last few years. At one stage there was 45-inch and now we are talking about 115-inch — like 85-inch was big. So that will benefit us a lot because with big screen TVs we have got a big market share.”

TVs have not just got bigger but brighter. Hisense’s 110UX features more than 40,000 backlights and up to 10,000 nits of brightness. Confused? The average car headlight produces about 1000 nits on high beam. TCL claimed 5000 nits of brightness on its new TV.

Hisense ANZ head of marketing Gideon Lui (right) and national appliance trainer Chris Mayer with the company's CES innovation award it received for its 110-inch TV.

TVs stole the show at CES. Korean electronics giant LG chose to highlight one appliance — its new transparent TV, which is expected to arrive in Australia later this year — at its press conference in Las Vegas.

LG is yet to reveal pricing on the see-through TV, which it says is the world’s first production model of its kind. And Mr Harvey believes knows why, saying it won’t be cheap.

“It’s a good story but don’t tell them the price.

“The new innovation from LG, a transparent OLED TV, a 77-inch sheet of glass with a black screen that can be rolled up for dedicated viewing. This area is perfect for open plan homes or apartments.

“The problem with that is it’s too expensive, so that’s not going to sell. But of course what will happen is instead of being $25,000 or $125,000 it becomes $3,000 and then sells. But at the moment, it’s not going to sell.”

A bank of LG's new transparent TVs, which are expected to be available for sale in Australia later this year.

And this is how new technology works — remember the first VCRs in the early 1980s and DVD players in the 1990s? They cost a small fortune before they reached scale and then became obsolete.

“You won’t believe this — maybe in the ‘60s or something like that — a small calculator came out and we were selling them for $750 each,” Mr Harvey said.

“And we sold quite a lot. Imagine how much $750 was 50 or 60 years ago. You wouldn’t believe we sold a $10 calculator for $750 from 50 years ago. It doesn’t make any sense. But somehow I remember it and it’s amazing.

“Anyway, that’s transparent TV. That’s the biggest story but don’t mention the price.”

Samsung also showcased a concept for a transparent TV at CES but isn’t confident consumers will take to the technology just yet.

The company’s Australian head of consumer Jeremy Senior had similar ideas to LG, adding the technology wasn’t yet at a stage where there was major consumer demand or need.

Samsung also unveiled major updates to its Neo QLED 8K television, a TV which can turn old movies new, with a smarter processor which harnesses AI to touch up content in real time.

The processor, called NQ8 AI Gen3, is now able to sharpen images and brighten them, which leaves old movies looking as if they were filmed just several years ago.

*The author travelled to CES as a guest of Hisense.