The TV set market stood at 730,000 units in 2013 or about EUR250 million, according to market research company GfK.
“If the current sales pace maintains, the TV set market will definitely go beyond 900,000 units this year. It might even reach one million units depending on Black Friday,” Pasat told ZF.
Black Friday has now become more important that Christmas, since sales are higher in November than December, he added.
The local TV set market rose by 20% in value and by 30% in volume in the first nine months of the year, the Sharp official says. Sales in August, for instance, were 40% higher than in the year-ago period, even though that month is a time when many people go on vacation.
“Sales rose at the end of June and in July because of the World Cup and the growth continued in August. It’s obvious consumer spending is up. Romanian consumers grew tired of waiting. Frustrations built up during the time they didn’t buy anything, needs became stronger and they started to replace their aging products. It’s been six years since the start of the crisis already,” Pasat said.
One in two TV sets sold in Romania is a 32″ TV and the small screen TVs (32″ and less) account for more than 75% of the total sales. In Poland, 32″ TVs account for only 30% of sales, while in Germany for 25% to 27%, as people tend to choose bigger screens.
“The current trend is to go for TVs with bigger screens, of more than 40″ because of the second TV in a household. Usually the first TV is a small screen TV and the customer then chooses a bigger screen one. It’s a trend we’re seeing in Western Europe and in Poland and will definitely arrive in Romania. It has to do with a number of factors, including purchasing power,” Pasat explained.
Sales of 50″ LCD/LED TVs in January- September 2014 were almost four times higher than in the year-ago period.
Romanians pay the least amount of money for a new TV of all the Eastern European countries, EUR330 on average.
“Price competition is extremely aggressive in Romania and only promotions move the market,” Pasat explained.
Since the market is crowded on the 32″ TV segment, Sharp’s strategy has been to focus more on sales of bigger screen TVs (over 60″).
Sales of the Japanese electronics manufacturer in Romania doubled in April-September 2014 (the first half of the Japanese fiscal year) compared with the year-ago period, because of the increase in market share on the TV set segment and in the sales of home appliances.
“The over 200% growth comes from a 180% growth on the TV segment and 300% on the small and large home appliances segment. We started introducing refrigerators, microwave ovens and air purifiers more aggressively on the market, but we did it using the resources we had,” Pasat said.
Sharp has a 3% share of the local TV set market in terms of value, and is on schedule with its target to reach 5% in the Japanese fiscal 2015, which begins on April 1. As for home appliances, Sharp operates on a niche of the refrigerator segment, considering its products cost 3,500 lei (about EUR800) and more on a market where 90% of the units sold cost RON2,000 on average.
Sharp sells TVs, audio equipment, refrigerators, freezers, microwave ovens and Steamwave steam ovens, air conditioners, air purifiers and humidifiers.
In Bulgaria, the company’s revenue rose 40% in April-September 2014 compared with the same time in 2013.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)