TV sales back on track

October sales surge by 25-30%; flat sets lead the pack

After a forgettable half year, the consumer electronics industry has reasons to cheer. TV manufacturers have reported a 25 to 30 percent jump in their October sale.

This year's festival sales also saw the number of flat TVs sold overtake the number of curved ones for major manufacturers, as well as the emergence of the 29-inch segment as a mass-product in the making.

The Videocon group, whose five brands are estimated to have accounted for around 30 per cent of the 18 lakh TVs sold last month, claimed a 21 per cent increase in its volumes this year from its last year's 4.35 lakh.

It sold around 3.15 lakh TVs under its flagship Videocon brand followed by the Sansui brand with 2.19 lakh, Sunil Mehta, Vice Presidents, Sales, said.

LG and Samsung, the two players who have been increasing their market-share in the Rs 10,000 crore Indian colour TV market this year, saw even higher jumps in their festival-month sales this year. "We have seen a 45.5 percent increase in our volumes this year," said LG's colour TV head Amitabh Tiwari.

Against the 3.3 lakh TVs sold during October 2004, the company sold 4.8 lakh this year, Tiwari said. "It makes us the single biggest brand in the colour TV segment as well," he pointed out.

The biggest increase, however, was claimed by Samsung. The company sold 2.8 lakh TVs this October, a nearly 100 percent jump from the last one. Philips, though refusing to divulge volume figures, said it had witnessed a 31 percent jump this October compared to last year.

Across the companies, the increase has been led by a surge in the flat-TV segment, with flat TVs accounting more than half of the total sales.

Samsung, which saw the biggest growth rate, also reported that nearly 82 percent of its TV volumes, around 2.3 lakh, consisted of flat models this October.

Selling around half a lakh more units, LG stayed ahead of its Korean counterpart while Videocon too saw flat TVs cross the halfway mark in their sales figures this October. "From around 29 per cent last year, the flat segment accounted for around 60 per cent this year," said Sunil Mehta, Sales VP, Videocon International.

Another segment, which has come from almost nowhere to occupy the second spot after 21 inch flat TVs has been the 29-inch segment. With aggressive price cuts bringing the TVs below Rs 14,000, especially in the Videocon line-up, the segment too witnessed healthy growths.

Expected to be around 7 to 9 percent of the total TV market in volume terms, segment leader Videocon said it alone had sold half a lakh pieces this October. LG, the runner up, sold 22,000 pieces or around 4.6 per cent of its total, in the 29-inch segment.

Another gainer this year has been the high-end segment, with Samsung's revenues in this segment going up by nearly four-and-a-half times.

"In fact, October has seen all time high sales in our LCD, Plasma, projection and flat TVs," said Ravinder Zutchi, the company's Deputy MD.