Television prices are likely to go up as major manufacturers are mulling hike in prices by up to 20 per cent to pass on the increased cost of panels arising from a global demand supply gap.
While Panasonic has already increased prices of its sets, Videocon, LG and Sony are monitoring the situation as panel prices have gone up by up to 35 per cent with Chinese manufacturers increasing prices while other South Korean and Taiwanese suppliers have stopped manufacturing smaller screens for television sets.
"Low supply of display panels has caused us to review our pricing and we will be increasing the price of the Panasonic television sets across screen sizes by 15 to 20 per cent," said Panasonic India Head - Sales and Service Ajay Seth.
He further said: "We anticipate Indian customers will now upgrade faster to larger screen sizes since the current price hike will narrow the price difference between a 32-inch and 40-inch to Rs 4,000 as compared to Rs 6,000 previously".
Videocon COO CM Singh said that the prices of 32-inch panels have gone up the most, followed by 40-inches.
"In fact, the shortage may worsen further in October and panel prices may go up by another 18-20 per cent," said Singh.
Explaining the reasons, he said: "For smaller screen, now there are few players only (supplying panels). It was coupled with Apple increasing the demand and lot of players getting out of smaller screen."
In India consumption of smaller screen is 70 to 75 per cent with 32 inch TV sets contributing around 38 per cent of total sales, he added.
However, market leaders such as Sony and LG are closely monitoring the situation and may take a decision after Diwali, when the festive season gets over.
"On the basis our advance planning, we don't intend to have any price hike during the festive season. We will closely monitor the situation and review post Diwali," said Sony India Head of Sales Satish Padmanabhan.
An LG spokesperson said: "We at LG have always believed in providing best value to our consumers and we are closely monitoring the situation".
Consumer Electronics and Appliances Manufacturers Association President Manish Sharma said India is a big market for 32 inch and 40-42 inch LED TV's, with the former selling almost 3.3 million units and the latter selling almost 1.1 million units in 2015.
The decisions of hiking prices or to absorb is being evaluated carefully by each player, he said.
15.30 Regional Service (Siya Ram)
16.00 Regional Service (Good Evening India)
17.00 Regional Service
18.00 Karmyudh (OLD SFC)
18.30 Draupadi (SFC) DD Kisan
19.00 Beta Bhagya Se Bitiya Saubhagya Se 19.30 Pehal: Ek Nayi Subah
20.00 Pammi Beauty Parlour
20:30 Pavitra Bandhan: Do Dilon Ka
21:00 Siya Ram
21:30 Vidya: Ek Kiran Ummid Ki
22.00 Taregani
22.
DD NEWS
AM
06:00 Samachar
06:15 News For Hearing Imparied
06:30 Samachar (Repeat)
06:45 Vaarta Sanskrit Samachar
06:55 5 Mint 15 khabrein
07:00 "Naya Savera Hindi News Show"
08:00 "Break Fast Show English News Show" 09:00 "Business Morning (Spons.
18:00 Khabar Jaldi Jaldi
18:05 Metro Scan
18:30 Desh Prasedh
19:00 Khel Samachar
19:30 The News
20:00 News Night (Hindi)
21:00 News Night (English)
22:00 Aamne Samne
22:30 Raat Saade Dus
23:00 Charcha Mein(Repeat)
23:30 News
Friday 4th November, 2016
AM
00:00 Samachar
00:30 News
01:00 Samachar
01:30 News
02:00 Samachar
02:30 News
03:00 Samachar
03:30 News
04:00 Samachar
04:30 News
05:00 Samachar
05:30 Kisan Samachar(Repeat)
