Mumbai: Bucking the economic downturn, the consumer electronics industry in the country has been on a growth path and is expected to achieve double digit sales growth at Rs26,000 crore during 2008\09.
Industry major Videocon Industries reviewing the performance of the sector in its annual report sent to shareholders has said that the consumer electronics and home appliances segments of the industry achieved sales of Rs23,000 crore during 2007\08 and is expected to achieve sales of Rs26,000 crore for the period 2008\09.
The company which is a major player in consumer electronics said colour tv (ctv) is the dominant product and a major contributor in consumer electronics. It estimated that 1.4 crore tv sets were sold during calender year 2008 which was nine per cent higher over the previous year.
Flat ctvs accounted for over 55% of the total domestic production while the share of conventional ctvs’s share was 37%. It said with upgradation of technology, there has been a shift from conventional tvs to flat tvs and from flat tvs to slim and ultra slim tvs.
Flat tv comprises of liquid crystal display (LCD) and plasma tv of which LCDs are posting remarkable growth. The company said though plasmas are also enjoying growth, they are feeling the heat from their LCD counterpart.
Smaller and more affordable LCDs have managed to penetrate the market compared to larger and more expensive plasma tvs.
The company said refrigerators, another important segment of consumer electronics industry, are also doing well and sold 53 lakh units during 2008, a growth of 8%. A trend noticed here has been that consumers are preferring higher end products like frost free refrigerators.
The company has estimated sales of washing machines for the industry as a whole for 2008 at 29 lakh units, having grown 11%. High-end segment comprising fully automatic and front loaders are experiencing maximum growth though semi-automatic segment continue to dominate accounting for 70% of total sales.
As regards microwave, the company’s figures for the period are 10 lakh having grown by 48% over the previous year.
Meanwhile, the company which follows October to September as its accounting year will hold its 20th annual general meeting at Aurangabad.