Home-grown consumer electronics major Onida will exit cathode ray tube (CRT) television business to concentrate on flat panel TVs and air-conditioners.

“Though there are still some pockets where these bulky TVs are still sought after, we have decided to exit that segment as it is no longer commercially viable,” said Gulu Mirchandani, Chairman and Managing Director, Mirc Electronics Ltd, which owns the Onida.

As part of its restructuring plan, Mirc Electronics will focus on flat panel TVs and air-conditioners. “we will continue with other home appliances such as washing machines and microwave ovens,” he said.

According to him, in the last couple of years the demand for CRT televisions started tapering down. Last year, the CRT television business contributed ₹250-275 crore to the company’s top line of ₹1,250 crore. However, its contribution to the bottom line was not substantial, Mirchandani added.

Similarly, the company stopped manufacturing DVD players last year. DVD players have become irrelevant as today’s technology has enabled people to watch movies by directly plugging in a pendrive. “And blueray too, has not picked up enough,” he said.

In the last two years bigger players in that segment such as Samsung and LG exited the business. He noted that the current market for flat panel TVs is around 5-6 million units and Onida has a share of around six per cent.

Besides, the company recently ventured into the mobile handset market. Last year, the size of its mobile business was close to ₹150 crore. It targets to double this in the next two years. In the air-conditioner business, Onida’s market share is about 10 per cent.

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