Big sports events like the Indian Premier League (IPL) or world cups always see a surge in TV sales, but this does not seem to be happening with the Commonwealth Games.

The industry says there isn’t a great interest in people for the Games. Corporate sponsors have also stayed away and the entire buzz has remained confined to infrastructure, not a games’ thrill.

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There was a 30 per cent rise in TV sales around the football world cup. During IPL3, sales of TVs went up by 40 per cent. The industry says such events push flat panel TV sales. Companies had IPL and FIFA-specific campaigns, too.

“The Commonwealth Games may not add big growth in TV sales because 2010 has been a year of various big sporting events like IPL and FIFA, due to which the sales of flat panel televisions have already witnessed growth,” offers Manish Sharma, head of marketing, Panasonic India.

Festive focus
The companies don’t have any special products or exclusive ad campaigns woven around the Games theme. The industry is rather focusing on the festive season, from September to December. It is expecting sales to grow by 40-45 per cent during the period. Last year, the industry registered 10-12 per cent increase in sales during the season.

Around a third of sales for the consumer durables industry take place in the festive season.

“Last year, we were just exiting the recession, so the growth was there but this was need-based growth. Second, the monsoon has been good this year. So, rural sales are expected to increase significantly. July and August have not been good this year because of the heavy monsoon. People have held back their decision, which is expected to materialise in the festive season,” reasons Nandi.

Godrej expects to grow its sales by 40 per cent this festive season. Last year, its sales grew by 21-22 per cent in the season. Not sharing promotion details, he said a new product line and new campaigns are in the making. Godrej spends five per cent of its turnover on promotions and 40 per cent of this is spent during the festive season.

Samsung also expects to grow by 40 per cent this festive season over last year. Last year, its sales grew by 35 per cent in September-October. It has recently launched new LED and 3D TV models.

Upgrades expected
The industry believes people would upgrade to premium products, specially in TV, and the entire industry is focusing on LCDs and LEDs. It expects LCDs and LEDs to grow by 100 per cent this festive season.

“We expect that flat panel TV sales will witness about 100 per cent growth over last year. We have recently introduced a 32” LCD which has very powerful sound and very low power consumption,” says Sharma. Panasonic India had revamped its TV product line-up last year and hired film stars Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif as brand ambassadors, which led its sales to grow by 300 per cent.

While growth is expected across all segments, the 32” LCD segment will witness the highest demand, say the companies. With this in mind, Akai, which recently made a comeback in India, recently launched a new range of LEDs and LCDs. Pranay Dhabhai, managing director, says the company is planning to spend Rs 12-14 crore on promotions during this festive season.

Haier India expects to grow by 180-200 per cent this festive season over 35 per cent growth in the last one. Eric Braganza, president, says the company will roll out a new range of products in October and plans to spend Rs 4 crore on promotions this season.

Sony India will launch 3D TV around the festive season. “We are introducing a unique 3D festival offer, a Lucky Draw Coupon Scheme. With the purchase of any Sony product, the customer can become a lucky winner of 3D Bravia, 3D Blu-ray Player and 3D Cyber-shot.The first prize is a 3D Bravia Package, which includes 3D TV, 3D Blu-ray Player, 2 pair of Sun-Glasses and 3D Movies and Software. There are 100 first prizes to be given out through this Lucky Draw Coupon scheme. The second prize is 1,000 3D Blu-ray players and the third prize is 1,000 3D Cyber-shot cameras,” says Tadato Kimura, general manager, marketing.

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