TV rates to increase from April as open-cell panels get more expensive in global markets

INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
New Delhi: Prices of LED Televisions are set to increase even more from April as the expense of open-cell panels has increased in the global
markets by approximately 35 per cent in the previous one month.Brands including Panasonic, Haier and Thomson are considering to increase
costs from April this year, while some like LG have actually already raised rates due to trek in prices of open-cell
Panasonic India and South Asia President and CEO Manish Sharma stated, Panel prices are increasing continually therefore are the prices of
Televisions
It is most likely that TV costs may increase further by April
When being asked about the quantum on boost, he said, Seeing current patterns, it may increase 5-7 per cent more by April
Expressing similarly, Haier Appliances India President Eric Braganza stated there is no other method than to increase the costs
The rates of open-cell have actually gone up tremendously and the patterns are that it would keep increasing, stated Braganza adding that
if that continues, we would have to continually increase prices
The open-cell panel is a fundamental part of TELEVISION manufacturing and covers around 60 per cent of the unit.Companies import tv panels
in an open-cell state, which need further putting together with worth addition prior to being shipped to market for sale.Super Plastronics
Pvt Ltd (SPPL), the brand licensee for French Electronic devices brand Thomson and US-based brand Kodak, said there is a shortage of open
cell in the market and the prices have nearly increased by three-folds in the previous 8 months
From the previous eight months, there has actually been a month-on-month increase in panel rates, we have seen more than 350 per cent spike
in LED TELEVISION panels
Worldwide, panel market has actually decreased
Regardless of that, there has been an increase of 35 percent in the previous 30 days, stated SPPL Chief Executive Officer Avneet Singh
Marwah
He added that the per-unit expense of TVs would increase by a minimum of Rs 2,000-3,000 beginning with April.Videotex International, which
owns Daiwa and Shinco brand names, said the industry has never seen or expected such a rate boost of open-cell
Since 32 inch is the most-sold size in India, the cost of a 32-inch screen size is expected to go up by Rs 5,000-6,000, said Videotex
International Group Director Arjun Bajaaj.While South Korean brand name LG said it will not increase the costs of its TV panels
We are not going for any rate boost now for TELEVISION
We have actually already increased the prices by around 7-4 percent in January and 3 per cent in February, due to the fact that of the hike
in panel rates, stated LG Electronics India Vice-President (Home Appliances) Vijay Babu
Marwah added that the open-cell market is dominated by Chinese makers and alleged that TELEVISION makers from China are getting better rates
from them
Presently, there is no alternative apart from China where all panel manufacturers exist
It has been closely observed that only Chinese brand names are getting better supply and price
This has actually been the story particularly after the pandemic, where Chinese TELEVISION brand names, which have actually been flooded in
the Indian market to counter Indian manufacture brand names by much better price and supply, he added
The government should bring TV manufacturing under the production-linked reward (PLI) scheme, a relocation which will make the Indian
TELEVISION industry more competitive on the international phase, Marwah added.Last year, the federal government had brought back the import
task on open cell
It had actually re-imposed 5 per cent custom-mades duty on the import of open-cell for TVs from October 1, 2020, after having nil
responsibility for a year.Besides, the government had also put imports of TELEVISION under a limited classification from totally free to
promote domestic production
Now, importer of TV needs to look for a licence from the commerce ministry's DGFT for the imports
TELEVISION is among the largest sections under the entire domain of home appliance and customer electronics, accounting for a volume of
nearly 17 million with a projected sale value of nearly Rs 25,000 crore.According to a joint report by the industry body, CEAMA and Frost -
Sullivan, the TELEVISION market is anticipated to grow to 284 lakh units in 2024-25 from 175 lakh units in 2018-19
It even more stated that the open cell panel and the chips of the TELEVISION are mainly imported from China besides some other markets as
Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam and just the last-mile assembly is performed in India