India remains bright spot for flat panel TV market growth

AUSTIN, USA: According to results from the DisplaySearch India's TV Market: The Final Frontier of FPD, the India flat panel TV market outlook is promising, with the region accounting for more than 30 percent of forecast Asia Pacific flat panel TV shipments in 2013.

FPD TV shipment growth in India slowed to 80 percent from 100 percent growth in the last four years, but in comparison to other regions, the slowed growth is still impressive, with the exception of the China flat panel TV market.

Fig. 1: India's FPD TV Share in Asian Pacific RegionSource: DisplaySearch’s India's TV Market: The Final Frontier of FPD

A growing middle class, coupled with a low penetration of flat panel TVs, will fuel the transition from CRT to LCD TVs with LCD TVs overtaking CRTs in 2012. India has 230 million households and only 115 million of them have TVs—mainly CRT TVs—providing significant opportunities for market expansion.

“With a booming economy, rising discretionary income and government purchase incentives, the India flat panel TV market remains a bright spot for continued flat panel TV growth over the next five years,” noted Indrajit Ghosh, DisplaySearch Director of India and South Asia Research. “In a global economy where some regions are saturated, India represents one of the biggest populations with the biggest potential for ensuring continued growth in the flat panel TV industry.”

India aims to position itself as the next TV assembly and manufacturing destination. The India government also has reduced panel import duty by 50 percent in an effort to help attract TV manufacturing and assembly within the country. As a result, large global OEMs are already considering this region, based on success stories in mobile handset manufacturing in India.