Sansui pips vendor Videocon in CTV mart

It's a battle for marketshare, but with a difference. Sansui, marketed by Kitchen Appliances India, a Videocon group company, has overtaken the flagship brand Videocon to emerge as the fourth largest colour television (CTV) brand in the country.

According to the latest ORG-GFK figures for the month of July, Sansui ranks No 4 with a market share of 10.2 per cent in the CTV market, while Videocon has a market share of 8 per cent.

July saw colour television sales of Rs 5.2 million (slightly over 5 lakh units). According to industry experts, Sansui has emerged as the fastest growing brand in the colour television market. The other brands marketed by the group include Akai and Toshiba.

According to Videocon group chairman, Venugopal Dhoot, "The pricing and brand building strategy has boosted the sales of Sansui."

However, Dhoot claims that as per the company's internal study, Videocon is ahead of the Sansui brand and Videocon group (combine of the four brands) is the leader in the CTV segment.

Domestic brand Onida's (Mirc Electronics) market share is marginally higher than Sansui at 10.4 per cent.

Korean chaebols LG and Samsung has been fighting neck to neck, with LG, maintaining its leadership position with a share of 17.1 per cent and Samsung at 17 per cent. Aggressive marketing and pricing strategies employed by both the Korean multinational players has made inroads into the country. While Philips has a market share of 7.4 per cent for July.

Says a senior executive from Philips India, "Sales have been improving for Philips and it has reached the sixth position this month from the earlier seventh position."

BPL, which has lost ground to multinationals has slipped to seventh position with a market share of 6.2 per cent. While Japanese brand Sony has a share of 5 per cent. Industry analysts are of the opinion that this year's monsoon means good sales in the festive season. Consumer durable companies are expecting the festival period to give a boost to CTV sales this year.

In tune with the emerging trend in the Indian CTV market, companies have been shifting focus from conventional models to the flat CTV segment.