Price war in consumer electronics segment this festival season has shifted to LCD and plasma TVs.
MUMBAI: Price war in consumer electronics segment this festival season has shifted to LCD and plasma TVs where both retailers and manufactures are scrambling to get a piece of the burgeoning market share.
The prices for these flat panel televisions have already seen 32% decline from last year’s festival season; there has been fall in the prices of flat panels worldwide.
Besides, retailers like Vijay Sales and Sony Mony in Mumbai are getting into special deals with manufacturers like Videocon and Haier to further bring down the prices by over 12% this festival season.
All this has left other manufactures in a tough position to fight back as the market is expected to grow 10 times from the last festival season. Around 3,000 units of LCD and plasma TVs were sold last October.
This time around, 30,000 units of LCD and plasma TVs are expected to be sold in a month.
The battle is the toughest at the entry level.“We are offering the LCD and plasma TVs of Videocon for a special price for limited period,” said Nilesh Gupta, managing director, Vijay Sales.
“The move has led to competition from other retailers and manufacturers. Now we are in talks with other manufacturers for more such deals - that could get finalised in a week’s time,” he said.
Videocon has been a late entrant in the LCD category. It launched its LCD television this year in July and has got products in the range of 20”, 26” and 32”. Videocon’s 20” LCD, which is priced at Rs 29,000, is offered on a discounted rate of Rs 24,990 under a special deal by Vijay Sales.
“We are aiming to sell 1,000 LCD televisions in a month this festival season,” said Sunil Tandon, group head strategic marketing, Videocon Industries Ltd.
The 20” LCD of Haier, which is priced at roughly 29,000, is available for around Rs 25,000 at Sony Mony’s stores in Mumbai.
“Such deals are typical to Mumbai retailers,” said R T Rajan, vice-president, sales and marketing, Haier India.
However, the market leaders Samsung and Sony like to maintain uniform pricing in the country and do not get into such deals with the retailers.
“Last year our LCD sales during the festival season was 3,000 units. This year we are expecting 37% growth in business,” said R Zutshi, deputy managing director, Samsung India.
The average price of entry model 20” LCD of brands like LG and Samsung was Rs 36,000 last year and now it has come down to Rs 29,000. And even at retail stores, it is available roughly for the same price. However, Samsung is giving away DVD players with 26” and 32” LCD TVs to lure the customers this festival season.
Pricing has, in fact, become the greatest growth driver in the LCD and plasma TV market as Sandeep Tiwari, head of marketing, LG Electronics, says, “The market for LCD and plasma television is still at a nascent stage and the growth would not come if the panel prices are not made affordable.”
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