Poor purchasing power expected to lower TV sales value by 6% this year
The market for television sets is anticipated to drop by 6 per cent in sales value and 7 per cent in unit terms this year because of the plunge in purchasing power, especially among farmers and lower-income earners.
Nipon Wongsaengarunsri, marketing director for LG Electronics (Thailand) Co, said the value of TV sales was expected to decrease from Bt30 billion in 2014 to about Bt28 billion this year, while the number of TVs sold this year was expected to drop from 2.6 million to 2.4 million.
Thailand’s TV market dropped by 0.01 per cent last year compared with 2013.
"We have seen a sales decline for television sets this year, especially in small-screen sizes, including 24-inch, 29-inch, 32-inch and 42-inch. A big drop has also been witnessed at lower price levels of less than Bt15,000 a set," he said, adding that many shoppers have shifted to larger screen sizes.
However, Nipon said the overall TV market was expected to see positive figures next year, driven by many encouraging factors such as live broadcasts of the Uefa Euro 2016 tournament in France in June and July, the government’s spending on stimulating the economy, and the rebound of the property market.
"Our only challenge is the currency exchange rate. The baht has been dropping continuously and this has had a negative impact on our import of television sets, mostly from our plant in Vietnam," he said.
He said LG Electronics decided to relocate its television plant from Thailand to Vietnam at the beginning of this year.
"Our headquarters decided to consolidate our Asean facilities at one particular hub. Vietnam has many advantages, especially the transport of parts and accessories such as LED screens from South Korea and China.
With the raise of investment capital at Vietnam facility, "The TV plant will serve the whole Asean market, and cash in|on the implementation of theAsean Economic Community.
"We believe Thailand’s overall TV market will see positive growth by about 5 per cent to about Bt29 billion next year," he said.
The South Korean company |says it is cementing its leadership in the global premium TV market |with the launch of the LG EG960T OLED (organic light emitting diode) set.
LG says the new model delivers a combination of "perfect black and perfect colour" to weave lively and realistic images at 4K resolution alongside a raft of useful features.
Nipon said the OLED TVs would be launched in Thailand in two sizes, 55-inch at the price of Bt139,000 and 65-inch at Bt199,000. About 500 OLED TVs are expected to be sold by the company next year.
"With the launch of OLED TVs, we expect our share of Thailand’s TV market to increase significantly, from 21 per cent currently to 25 per cent next year."
He said the company expected to increase overall sales of its television sets from Bt6 billion this year to about Bt6.6 billion next year. TV sets currently contribute about 30 per cent of overall sales at LG Electronics (Thailand).
