Kuala Lumpur – Malaysians are buying more television sets and a gradually growing proportion are buying those that come enhanced with LED backlit or Internet connectivity features, or a combination of both, according to GfK Malaysia. Retail audit findings by the global leading market research company revealed these emerging trends in the fast growing USD629 million Malaysian TV market, which registered 50 percent in volume and 17 percent in value growth in the last 12 months.
LED TVs are rising in popularity, as reflected by the consistent month-on-month growth over the last one year. Today, more than one in every three (37%) units sold in the country is an LED TV, as compared to one year ago where this segment only contributed 17 percent to the volume sales of all flat screen TVs.
“As technology continues to develop and advance, lowering prices have made LED TVs increasingly affordable and this is a key factor driving its escalating sales in the country,” explained Ms Jennifer Chan, general manager of GfK Malaysia. “We are witnessing falling TV prices across the board. For instance, the price of a 42 inch LED TV averaged at USD973 a year ago but today cost 31 percent less, at just USD673.”
The take up rate of web-connected TVs has also been gaining momentum over the last 12 months – nearly 215,000 units, or 17 percent of all flat panel TVs sold had web connection abilities. This reflects a 10 percent incremental share over the previous period, which reported a mere 7 percent market share then.
While consumers a year ago only had around 50 models of TVs with the Internet connectivity function to choose from, their options have widened significantly today as they are presented with over 100 models of TVs with this feature. Web-connected TVs form 17 percent of all TV models being offered in Malaysia.
GfK Malaysia findings also reveal rising number of consumers in Malaysia who are going for larger TV screen sizes, driven by its declining prices. Sales volumes of TVs 40 inches and above has grown considerably to make up 44 percent of the total pie, an increase of 6 percent over the previous period.
