CTV sales jump 20% in dull season

NEW DELHI: Anand Giri, a television dealer in South Delhi, is thrilled about the prospects of the just-launched IPL. The cricket tourney has lifted spirits in the rather sedate consumer electronics market as marketers are expecting sales to rise dramatically in the usually dull April-June quarter.

Ravinder Zutshi, dy MD at Samsung Electronics and president of CEAMA, the TV manufacturers��� association, says he expects industry growth of around 20%. Companies are also planning offers like they would normally do during World Cups and Indo-Pak tournaments. Last year, CTV sales grew 11%.

CTV sales grew by a marginal 5.5% during January-February this year. But the summer promises to be quite a handful ��� the April-June season would be bountiful with the ongoing IPL series, the maturing of the semi-urban market and summer vacations for kids, particularly when this is considered to be a low-yielding quarter by the industry.

TV companies have seen a rise in sales by 15% in April alone. The TV manufacturers are also expecting an increase in sales by 20-to-25% in May this year as against last year���s sales. Haier���s COO Pranay Dabhai said: ���We expect television sales to zip by 20%. Last year, inventories piled up since TV sales did not live up to the expectations.���