Despite the hype surrounding last week's introduction of digital TV and lost sleep over set top box delays, punters appear to be unimpressed at the latest digital phenomena.
"I wouldn't say [consumer] interest is overwhelming," Retravision's manager of technology Neil Chandler said. "Certainly, our phones aren't ringing off the hook."
Harvey Norman, which has demonstration set top boxes operational in all NSW metropolitan stores, has also noticed a definite lack of consumer interest.
"We've had a few people in to have a look, but people are not actually jumping in and buying at the minute," Wayne Campbell, franchisee of the Auburn Harvey Norman store, told ZDNet.
"We haven't had one person committed to purchasing yet."
Because of the extreme hype surrounding digital TV, "the consumer is expecting to see something spectacular," Campbell said. "But what they're basically saying is that they can't see anything different between the previous transmission."
Dick Smith has demonstration boxes in most of its PowerHouse stores but said there has only been "a little bit of interest".
"There's certainly not people racing into stores to see the demonstration," Dick Smith representative Nicola Rutzou said.
Rutzou said she "wasn't aware" that any customers had even asked about placing an order.
Thorn Australia, which will package the set top boxes with 32-inch wide screen televisions for rental, said it isn't surprised set top boxes have seen a lack of interest from retail customers.
The boxes are retailing around the AU$699 mark.
"It seems Australian consumers intend to be cautious and adopt a 'wait and see' approach, before making decisions about expensive digital purchases," Thorn Australia's GM-consumer, Scott Lorson, said.
"We also anticipate that those consumers who wish to access digital TV immediately will view rental as a risk free, flexible option," Lorson said.
Thorn's bundled wide-screen televisions and set top boxes will be available for rent from RadioRental and RentLow as of January 15 at a cost of AU$24.90 per week.
"In the UK the introduction of digital TV saw a 400 percent growth in television rental," Thorn's manager, digital strategy, Jeremy Corfield said. "We expect the same thing to happen here."
"Australian consumers are quite savvy and will be cautious about something that will be superseded and obsolete within 12 months," Corfield added.
Representatives from the Seven, Ten and Nine Networks have declined to comment.
