issue: January 2005 APPLIANCE Magazine New Delhi Report CTV Sales Light Up During Diwali	Share  Printable format  Email this Article  Search
By Adite Chatterjee, India correspondent, APPLIANCE magazine It’s festival time once again in India, and the season when consumers give in to their urge to splurge.

Diwali, or the festival of lights, proved to be a boon for color television (CTV) manufacturers, as sales of CTVs outstripped those of other appliances such as refrigerators.

One person who is happy with the sales of his brand is CM Singh, LG Electronics’ head of marketing, CTVs, who says: “Our 29-in flat CTV was the most sought after model. While sales of our CTVs have seen an increase of over 40 percent during the season, the industry would have seen a growth of about 10 percent in the period.”

Samsung is also pleased with consumers’ tendency of buying higher-priced CTV models. According to R. Zutshi, Samsung India director sales, “Sales of CTVs grew by about 45 percent in the festive season, with the growth coming from high-end CTVs.”

Refrigerator manufacturers, however, are not ecstatic about the sales of their products. Sales of refrigerators, particularly in the direct-cool segment, did not pick up as expected. Most of the sales growth occurred in the medium and high end of the frost-free refrigerator segment and in washing machines. But the fact that the frost-free segment has performed better than the direct-cool segment is an indication that the replacement market is growing at a fast clip. Moreover, the very attractive discounts and schemes available, coupled with easy finance options, makes purchasing a high-end CTV or refrigerator model a breeze.