Market Watch: 32-inch to 60-inch televisions

As most people are keen on replacing their older CRTs with flat panels, “TV” remain one of the hottest and most active product categories. Moreover, price drops have given it a further boost. A decent full HD LED television is easily available for around Rs 34,000 while a 720p LED TV is available for as low as Rs 18,000. Flat panels are getting cheaper as there is no dearth of LCD or LED TVs in the market today. We spoke to the local vendors and shopkeepers to get a better idea of how the TV market has evolved, and also to find out which models have been selling well and what type of products customers are looking for.

While flat panel TVs are available in varied sizes ranging from 22-inch to over 60-inch, market vendors reveal that the 32-inch TV is most preferred by consumers. In fact, size-wise, 32-inch TVs bring in highest sales. The CRT TV industry is fading away and people (in urban areas) prefer LED TVs over the earliest flat panel LCD TVs. Giants like Samsung, LG, Panasonic and Sony have been focusing more on LED TVs. LED TVs are slimmer and offer better picture quality while also keeping the power comsumption low (55 to 80 watts, which is around 50 percent less power compared to LCD TVs). 

More from News & Analysis

What is the US HIRE Bill and why is India’s $250-billion IT sector worried? Is the internet dead? What's this theory that OpenAI's Sam Altman says might be true?

32-inch TVs are most preferred in the market

Earlier, the only thing that kept LED TVs from the reach of consumers was their hefty price tags. But there has been considerable price drops in LED TV segment over the time. We also have home-brewed LED TVs from companies like Micromax, starting at Rs 16,000. According to most of the vendors, the sales of LED TVs have gone up drastically. In fact, the difference between the price of a 32-inch full HD TV and a 32-inch LED TV is now around Rs 3,000.

Talking about the TV brands, presently, Samsung is said to be the most-preferred brand in the market. While Samsung TV sales are the highest, LG and Sony take the second and third position respectively. Samsung’s after-sales service is also appreciated by consumers as the company ensures to call up consumers and find if they are happy with the product.

Presently, the best selling models in the local market are the Samsung 32EH4000M LED and the Samsung LE32E420 LCD televisions. Both are 32-inch TVs with support for USB and HDMI, but don’t come with any Internet or Smart TV functionality. The LE32E420 is priced at Rs 22,500 while the 32EH4000M costs Rs 26,500. Another 32-incher selling really well is the LG 32LS3400 priced at Rs 26,500. Probably, consumers are looking for a 32-inch TV priced under Rs 30,000. Sony’s 40-inch 40EX430 is also one of the best-selling TVs featuring a full HD display, priced at Rs 53,000. People are also opting for TVs from Panasonic and Toshiba. While AOC TVs are readily available, we didn’t see a lot of BenQ or Philips in the local market.  Some TVs such as the Panasonic TH-L42E5D are available for a cheaper price online than at the offline market.

Moreover, you can no more accuse televisions of being an idiot box, as they are capable of much more than mere displaying broadcasts. The list below is dominated by LED TVs and a handful of models also come with Smart TV capabilities. Though Smart TV is still in a nascent stage in India, the trend may soon catch up.

The table below shows TVs between 32-inch and 60-inch – the hot selling ones are highlighted in red.

List of TVs

Disclaimer: The details mentioned herein are based on the information provided by local dealers and our market sources in Mumbai city, and reflect the rates applicable at the time this article was published. The views expressed in the article in no way reflect the official sales records of the respective companies.

_Image credit: Harshad Gujare
_