 "Samsung")
Samsung India expects growth to double in the QLED television segment in 2023 and is launching more premium television sets (TVs) to cater to the strong demand in the segment.
It has launched the Neo QLED 8K TVs and Neo QLED 4K TVs in sizes ranging from ranging from 50-inches to 98-inches.
“In the QLED TV segment, which is synonymous with premium TVs, Samsung saw growth of two times between 2020 and 2022. Riding on the new line up of Neo QLED 8K and Neo QLED TV, Samsung India expects to grow by two times in 2023,” Mohandeep Singh, senior vice president, consumer electronics business, Samsung India told Business Standard in an interview.
He added that demand is not only coming in from metros from tier 2 and smaller cities as well. “This isn’t true only for the big cities. Premium televisions in tier 2 cities and other smaller cities are growing twice as fast as big cities.”
The consumer durables maker saw demand for television sets spike during the pandemic especially in the premium segment.
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The last few years have seen two big trends play out – consumers are picking up larger screens, upsizing and embracing premium TVs like never before, Singh explained.
Samsung TVs above 55-inch saw a massive growth of 150 per cent between 2020 and 2022. 65-inch and above TVs grew 230 per cent while those above 75-inch saw 300 per cent growth. In 2023, Samsung India expects 55-inch and above TVs to grow by two times over the previous year.
The company has also doubled the number of stores where it will sell its premium TVs from 2,500 to 5,000.
He explained that there is a rise in young people buying premium QLED TVs over the last few years and that the average age of the premium TV buyer has steadily come down, from 38 in 2020 to 34 today.
Since India is emerging as one of the largest markets from a gaming perspective, Singh added that its new range of TVs have been built to offer the gaming experience.
While talking about investments in research and development, Singh said, “we invest the $18 billion globally, on R&D which is across product categories, but there are a lot of adjacencies on technology development.” He explained that the research done in television could later be used on mobiles and other categories.
