Introduces IoT-driven TV sets
New Delhi: Leading consumer electronics maker Samsung is targeting to cross Rs10,000 crore sales mark from its TV business in 2024 in the Indian market led by growing demand and premiumisation in the segment, a company official said on Wednesday.
The company, which introduced a new line-up of Artificial Intelligence (AI) enabled TV sets, controls around 21 per cent of the volume of the fast-growing Indian TV market and expects to consolidate beyond that in 2024, said Samsung India Senior Vice President, Visual Display Business Mohandeep Singh.
Samsung is having a “volume growth” in the mid and premium TV segment and expects this trend to continue this year after the Indian TV industry faced a market correction in 2023, he said.
As part of the strategy, Samsung is “very focused” on the sale of premium TV sets, which currently contribute 40 per cent of its TV sales here and expects it to scale up, helped by growing demand for TV sets above 55 inches and UHD (ultra-high-definition) sets.
“We are targeting an unprecedented Rs10,000 crore turnover in 2024 (from TV sales) this year and consolidating our leadership further,” Singh told PTI.
Crossing the Rs10,000 crore TV sales mark would be a “success story for 2024” for Samsung as “we have never done this before, neither any other brand in TV has done this before,” he added.
According to ROC filings, in FY23 Samsung India’s total revenue was Rs98,924.40 crore, of which around 70 per cent contribution was from its mobile phone business and the rest from other businesses, including appliances and TV business.
While talking about the domestic TV market, Singh said after having growth for two consecutive years – 2021 and 2022, based on screen sizes, value, and volume, it remained sluggish in 2023 as an entry-level segment, consisting of 32-inch screen size set did not grow.
“But now the contribution of the mid and the premium TV sets is becoming high, and we expect this volume growth trend to continue. I think that is going to push even the volume growth further as we move forward in 2024,” said Singh, adding, “We believe that in 2024 we will even see an uptick in volume growth, though it will be a single-digit growth.”
The volume uptick this time around would not be because of the HD, FHD, the 32-inch, but because of UHD and the further premium technologies and large screen sizes, he added.
“So, I think there’s a big opportunity the industry will grow, and we want to outgrow the industry to kind of consolidate our position further,” he said.
Over premiumisation, Singh said it is “unique and exciting” and this trend is visible not only in metro markets but also in smaller cities, even in towns and rural India.
Samsung on Wednesday launched a range of AI-powered televisions for its ultra-premium Neo QLED starting at Rs1.39 lakh and OLED in its 2024 lineup, which according to the company will upscale the viewing experience with its machine-learning capabilities.
These have “an AI picture technology that brings out the details in the picture, ensuring clarity, naturalness, ability to see the nuances of facial expression in every scene that a viewer watches,” Singh said.
Moreover, it has an ‘AI Upscaling Pro’ to transform the content so that it matches closely to the 8K display, improving the viewing experience considerably as compared to any conventional 4K television.
It also has ‘AI Motion Enhancer Pro’ that makes fast action smoother and clearer, he added.
Besides, it has features such as AI Sound Technology, which delivers precise audio, which detects background noises and adjusts volume automatically and AI Energy Mode, which saves power without compromising picture quality.
“Samsung is bringing the transformative power of Artificial Intelligence (AI) across product categories to improve consumers’ lifestyles. That’s why we have integrated AI into home entertainment to offer exceptional viewing experiences for our consumers,” said Samsung Southwest Asia President and CEO JB Park.
Samsung India, part of South Korean Chaebol Samsung Electronics Co, currently manufactures around 90 per cent of its TVs in India through its factories or its original equipment manufacturers.
“I see that over a period of time, this trend would only become better as we grow our volumes on the premium side,” he said.
Earlier this month Samsung said AI-powered and internet-connected smart appliances would contribute 70 per cent to India sales.
The Indian TV market is estimated to be around 12 million units, which includes Samsung competes with LG, Panasonic, Sony, Xiaomi, TCL and OnePus.
AI-driven Ultra-premium Neo QLED starts at Rs 1.39 lakh and the OLED range starts at Rs 1.64 lakh.
