Last Updated on April 16, 2022 by Anu Joy
Since last year, smartphone manufacturers have been forced to raise their pricing due to a variety of factors ranging from the pandemic to rising component costs and subsequent processor shortages. Although we didn’t notice any major impact on the TV industry, things are changing quickly in this sector as well. According to a Gadgets360 report, TV manufacturers intend to raise their pricing in the Indian market.
The COVID-based lockdowns in the Chinese market, as well as the Ukraine-Russia war, could cause up to a 10 percent increase across all pricing segments. Because the bulk of TVs sold in the Indian market is in the budget class, this price increase could have a significant impact on low-income consumers. The majority of executives interviewed by the publication note the influence of the nearly two-month-long Ukraine-Russia war on other electronic devices.
“The Russia-Ukraine war has only worsened the situation as both these countries are the largest producers of some key minerals used as raw materials for manufacturing chips, which have already been in shortage”, said Anand Dubey, CEO of Bengaluru-based Indkal Technologies which is the brand licensee of Acer TVs in India.
To make matters worse, China is presently dealing with an outbreak of the Omicron variant, which has led the government to implement stringent lockdowns in major cities for at least the next two weeks. We continue to rely on China for essential components and raw materials ranging from chips to heavy metals. We might be seeing a hike as soon as this month, but the situation may cool off as the festive season approaches in Q3.
“Prices of various raw materials, services, and the end products too will see at least a five–10 percent rise,” noted Avneet Singh Marwah, CEO of Super Plastronics (SPPL) — the Noida-based manufacturer of TVs including Blaupunkt, Thomson, and Kodak.
According to Hong Kong-based market research firm Counterpoint, TV shipments in India increased by 24 percent year on year in 2021, with the smart TV market increasing by 55 percent year on year. Xiaomi, Samsung, LG, Sony, and OnePlus were among the companies that dominated smart TV shipments in the country last year. It will be interesting to see how these companies respond to increased component pricing and how much market share they can gain this year.
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