Consumer electronics major Samsung India expects the sales of premium televisions in the country to increase by 10-15 per cent during the football world cup, which kicks off from today.
"With Fifa World Cup coming into play, the market should see 10-15 per cent growth in premium TV sales. We will be hopefully more than that," said Piyush Kunnapallil, general manager-consumer electronic business, Samsung India.
As per reports, the total TV market is estimated to be Rs 500 billion, growing at 7-8 per cent.
Samsung has a 30 per cent market share at present, and the company expects to take it to 33 per cent by October, according to Kunnapallil.
He said Indian consumers are moving towards premium TV, with those priced between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 1.5 lakh booming at present.
"There is a clear move happening in the 40 inch and above and ultra high definition (UHD) TVs," he said.
The 40 inch and above segment, which accounts for 45-50 per cent of the total TV market, is growing at 26 per cent, the UHD segment at 145 per cent, while the Rs 1.5 lakh and above market is growing at 75 per cent, according to him.
"In 40 inch and above segment, our market share is 33 per cent, and we are looking at increasing it to 38 per cent by October. In UHD we have 36 per cent share, and we plan to increase it to 45 per cent by October," Kunnapallil said.
The South Korean giant launched six new UHD models yesterday, taking the total UHD offering to 16.
Despite the rising input costs, he said the company will not increase its prices to ensure that the consumer sentiment is not impacted.
"If we as market leaders change price, it might affect consumer sentiment, especially when Fifa is coming. Thus, we have decided not to hike prices," he added.
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