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The All Blacks are set to lose a major sponsor as electronics giant Philips stops selling flat-screen televisions in New Zealand.

The company has sponsored the Tri-Nations and electronics for the team for the past 15 years but will pull out of the agreement as it rethinks its global TV policy.

Philips will also quit the Australian TV marketplace, both effective from January 31.

New Zealand Rugby Union commercial manager Paul Dalton said the union suspected the deal might be coming to an end as the latest sponsorship agreement had been signed for only 12 months compared with the usual three years. He would not say how much the sponsorship was worth.

"Clearly they have been reviewing their options for a little while, so it's not completely out of the blue."

All Black management had been in discussions for the past few months with a number of companies over new sponsorship, he said.

"From our point of view it's unfortunate that the 15-year success has ended in that way but we accept that we have to go with the flow. From our point of view we just have to move on and find someone else for the properties that Philips had."

Philips, one of the largest electronics companies in the world, said: "Philips New Zealand and the All Blacks have had a tremendous working relationship which has spanned 15 years engaging employees and fans.

"The Philips Tri-Nations remains one of the world's most keenly contested competitions - as evidenced by the closeness of this year's series - and we at Philips have been particularly proud to be a part of this competition and bringing it to New Zealand."

Australasian spokeswoman Sarah Campbell said the pullout follows a review pushed by Philips chief executive Gerard Kleisterlee.

"The company has said that it is taking decisive steps to optimise the business in televisions globally," Ms Campbell said. "This is the outcome of that."

The company will concentrate on Europe, Brazil, Russia, India and China for its television business. Other Philips consumer electronics - such as home theatre, portable audio and DVD players - would not be affected. She said Philips' lighting and health business would also not change.

(Source: nzherald.co.nz)