Plasma television, the first flat TV system, may soon go blank as sales go flat and leading electronics makers Samsung and LG shift focus to fast-growing LCD and LED televisions.
KOLKATA/NEW DELHI: Plasma television, the first flat TV system, may soon go blank as sales go flat and leading electronics makers Samsung and LG shift focus to fast-growing LCD and LED televisions. Sales of the once-popular plasma televisions have been flat for the last 6-9 months even though the overall flat panel TV segment is growing at a rate of 119%.
"Over the past few years, most flat panel manufacturers have moved their investment towards LCD and LED televisions, as these technologies are witnessing rapid technological developments," LG Electronics India business head (home entertainment ) Rohit Pandit says.
Analysts feel Plasma TV may well be on the way out in India, as top flat-panel television players bet on LCD and LED while wooing consumers with technologies like smart TV and 3D TV, and consumer promotions. While Sony stopped manufacturing Plasma TV in 2006, Samsung and LG have reduced the pace of launch of plasma TV models.
"The contribution of plasma TV to over-all flat panel TV sales is declining year on year," says Samsung Electronics India VP (AV business) Raj Kumar Rishi. "The sheer range availability of LCD and LED TV, the technological innovation and performance improvement is ensuring stronger growth," he says.
Plasma TV now accounts for just 2% of the overall flat-panel television market, with LCD holding 85% and LED TV 13%. The largest reason for Plasma's dwindling market share could be that the products are available only in large-screen sizes of 40-inches and above, while LCD and LED TVs are available right from 14-inches onwards.
Also, the 20-30 % price premium that LCD TVs used to command over plasma in like-to-like screen sizes has narrowed down to 10% as higher volumes help LCD TV makers cut production costs and work on smaller margins. Even at Panasonic India, which is a major champion of plasma TV, LCD and LED TVs account for almost 85% of the total flat panel TV sales.
Why plasma is losing out
As per electronics market research firm DisplaySearch, the 22 to 24-inch TV segment accounts for more than 40% of TV sales, followed by the 32-inch segment that contributes 35% of the total share. The firm estimates that the Indian market accounts for 41.5% of the total Asia-Pacific TV market.
The fact that small screen plasma TV is not available in the market became its nemesis. LG India couple of years back had launched a 32-inch plasma set, but the company never really promoted as it became a loss-making proposition to sell such a small-screen model which was subsequently pulled out.
Most of the flat panel display manufacturers like Sony, Samsung, Sharp, AOU and CMO have been investing heavily on LCD panel manufacturing which found greater in mobile phone, laptop and desktop monitor, and electronic signage. "Since plasma TV entered first, consumers started perceiving it as an old hat due to greater innovation in newer technologies like LCD and LED," says Global Brands Enterprise Solutions managing director Pranay Dhabhai, who owns the rights for the Akai brand in India.
As a result, even the newer entrants in the flat screen TV space like Akai, Videocon, Godrej and Onida have stayed away from the plasma TV segment. "Our extensive pre-launch market research showed that the market did not accept the plasma TV product line, hence we focused only on LCD and LED TV," says Godrej Appliances senior general manager Mayank Gupta. Godrej has further innovated by launching LCD TVs with motion-sense gaming.
Prices of flat panel television are dropping at around 20-30 % annually. But the bigger price erosion is happening in LCD and LED TV segment due to far higher sales volume, which is bringing down panel prices globally. Currently, LED TVs cost about 20-30 % more than an LCD TV, which in turn, cost 10-15 % higher than Plasma TV.
But Panasonic India's director (marketing) Manish Sharma says that price is not the only deciding factor. "With rising consumerism, people have started to look for more durable and advanced technology," he says.
Future of flat panel TV
Samsung India's Rishi says that a lot of the first time buyers are now buying LCD and LED TV without batting their eyelids. Even in non-metros and rural areas, consumers are moving to flat panel TVs.
"There are clear indications that LED TV will rule in metros, whereas in smaller towns LCD TV will become the product of choice," says Rishi. Durable retailers too are accordingly rejigging their merchandise plans. New Delhi's Neha Electronics proprietor SK Talwar says that almost 95% of the flat panel television stock in his shop is LCD and LED TV as demand for plasma has drastically fallen in the last one year.
"Plasma TV will only play a small role in the 85-inch and 105-inch screen sizes since the cost difference with LCD is still very high. But the market will gradually shift to LCD and LED, and plasma TV may completely vanish in another couple of years," says KS Raman, director at Next Retail, India's largest durable retailer with 600-plus stores.
Even plasma TV makers like LG, Samsung and Panasonic are all betting on LED TV as their future growth driver. For instance, Samsung has recently launched 26 models of LCD TVs, 18 LED TV models and just 7 plasma TV models. However, Panasonic's Sharma feels the market for plasma will continue to exist with LCD and LED as it will continue to cater specifically to long-screen enthusiasts.
LG's Pandit also thinks technology enthusiasts will still not write off plasma due to its ability to reproduce natural life-like images and fast response time, which tends to improve picture quality in sports or action movies. But opinions differ.
"The plasma TV makers always claimed their picture quality is a superior than LCD. But with the emergence of LED TV and the latest line-up of LCD TV, picture quality is almost comparable to the eyes," says Dhabhai of Akai. Videocon Industries' vice president (sales) CM Singh feels that plasma TV will eventually edge out its current dominance in the large-screen segment.
"Manufacturers are clearly differentiating their product line. In the 32-inch and below screen, LCD will become mainstream and in the 40-inch plus sizes, LED is being promoted as the technology of choice. And as that happens, the price difference between LED and plasma will further drop," Singh says.
Plasma going flat
LG and Samsung reduce pace of launch of plasma TV models; to focus on LED and LCD TV segment LG India launched a 32-inch plasma model a few years back, but never promoted it Samsung recently launched 26 models of LCD TVs, 18 LED TV models and just 7 plasma TV models Sony, a dominant player in the flat panel TV segment, was the first to exit the plasma TV segment around 2006 Newer entrants in flat screen TV space such as Akai, Videocon, Godrej and Onida have stayed away from plasma TV.
(Contributed by Writankar Mukherjee & Pramugdha Mamgain)