The Hindu Business Line : World Cup fails to drive sale of colour TVs

THOUGH, in view of the cricket World Cup, the colour television (CTV) industry had set optimistic targets for the first quarter of the calendar year, the sales growth seems to have been below expectations so far.

According to industry sources, the month of January had been rather sluggish for the CTV industry, with high inventories stuck at both the retail and industry level.

"Though the industry target for January was around 8,00,000 units, the total CTV sales have been below 6,00,000 units during the period," points out an industry official.

Though confirming that January sales had been below expectations, officials from the Consumer Electronics and Television Manufacturers Association (Cetma) pointed out that the growth in the month had not been bad as compared to the same period last year.

"CTV sales have grown about 20 per cent during the January period," says a Cetma official.

The growth rate however seems low considering the fact, that CTV sales grew by more than 30 per cent during the FIFA world cup season, and football does not enjoy the kind of mass following which cricket does in the country.

The reason, industry officials point out, for the lesser growth in January sales could lie in the fact that since the festive season (another key driver for CTV sales) was just over, it would take some time before new demand is generated in the market.

"The FIFA, Diwali and the festive seasons saw a spurt in sales of CTVs. Further, many people bought CTVs during the festive season with an eye on the forthcoming World Cup. Though, demand will be slow to take off initially, an increase in sales is expected during the forthcoming weeks," Mr Deepak Singh, Group Project Manager, NFO-MBL India Pvt Ltd said.

Both consumer electronics companies as well as several retailers have pointed out that sales have started to pick up in the last 10-15 days, and are expecting the momentum to keep up till mid-March.

Interestingly, the sales are also bound to be affected by India's performance during the ongoing World Cup.

Several retailers in the Capital pointed out that customer enquires had dropped drastically after the team's embarrassing defeat to Australia.

"CTV sales during the season will be affected to some extent if the Indian team were not to make it the super sixes," Mr Singh said.

CTV manufacturers have targeted a 40-50 per cent jump in sales during the first three months of the current year.

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