Bumper Diwali for CTV firms

1.5 m sets sold in 15 days; annual tally may top 10 m

A bumper growth of over 55 per cent in colour television sales this festive season is likely to drive the industry's sales past the 10 million units mark by the end of the year.

In the last 15 days leading up to Diwali the consumer durables industry is estimated to have sold nearly 1.5 million CTVs compared with 950,000 last year.

"This season we have surpassed our own estimates by selling nearly 350,000 CTVs compared with 200,000 during the same period last year. Given the record sales, the industry would comfortably sell 10 million units this year," said V N Dhoot, chairman, Videocon Group.

If that happens, India would join the elite club of 10 million CTVs market alongside China, Japan and US. Dhoot said that better offtake in rural areas surprised the industry as there were fears that bad monsoon in certain parts might affect sales.

"It was a scary diwali for the industry as sales skyrocketed in the last four days leading up to the festival. Inventory management was extremely difficult," said C M Singh, head (CTVs), LG India, the market leader in CTVs.

According to Singh the company's CTV sales increased 45 per cent and it comfortably met its festival revenue target of Rs 1,300 crore. "Last-minute sales meant that our production capacities and logistics were stretched to the limits," he added.

According to Ravinder Zutshi, vice-president (sales), Samsung India, margins improved this season an account of growth in high-end CTVs. Samsung too claimed to have surpassed its sales target of Rs 575 crore for the festival month.

Mirc Electronics sold its all time high 2,54,100 colour televisions in October 2004 compared with 1,64,669 in October last year representing a rise of over 54 per cent.

The company claimed that the record sales have propelled Mirc to the second place beating Samsung and Videocon in the national CTV sweepstakes.

The company expects to sold around 375,000 units this season end with revenues in excess of Rs 500 crore. According to Mirc the DVD segment has also witnessed a dramatic growth from 3,500 units last year to 45,000 units in October this year.