Dubai: Television sales in the UAE in the first week of the Fifa World Cup surpassed sales outside of Dubai Shopping Festival and Gitex periods.
“The first week of the World Cup saw a 16 per cent growth in sales compared to the previous week,” Kevin Ribeiro, business group manager of consumer electronics at research firm GfK Middle East, told Gulf News.
“We have registered a year-on-year growth of between 40 and 43 per cent in June sales. It was definitely better than Gitex,” said Ashish Panjabi, COO at Jacky’s Electronics.
He said that screen sizes of 46 and 55 inches were the fastest moving models but 55-inch was the sweet spot.
“TV sales have been growing at an enormous pace during the month of June. This is the season for TVs, not only due to football but also due to Ramadan. We have seen a 30 per cent growth in footfalls,” said Neelesh Bhatnagar, Chief Executive Officer of Emax.
4K TVs popular
Key retailers said that 4K TVs, also known as ultra high-definition (UHD) TVs, were the fast moving category in 55 inches.
4K TVs boast a pixel format of 3840 x 2160 pixels, four times that of the current 1920 x 1080p Full HD TVs, and have great clarity and depth.
To entice consumers, retailers had launched an exchange offer where consumers can give their old TVs for a price and pay the difference when buying a new TV.
“This is the first time that TV sales have taken the top spot and it is due to two reasons — the industry is in the middle of a shift from smaller screen sizes to bigger sizes and from high definition to UHD,” said Nadeem Khanzadah, Head of Retail, Jumbo Electronics.
He said that traditionally, June is not the month for TVs. Due to holiday season, people buy portable gadgets.
Jumbo saw around 35 per cent growth in sales.
Ribeiro said the World Cup has had a notable effect on the sales of flat panel televisions.
“Interestingly, consumers took advantage of the promotions to watch the sporting event on larger screens. Screen sizes of 40-inch and above have seen the biggest increase during the week. As a result, raising the average spent on a television by 17 per cent,” Ribeiro said.
Emax has witnessed a 73 per cent year-on-year growth in sales during the Fifa World Cup promotions.
Compared to May, Emax sales have surged by 28 per cent.
Panjabi said that curved TVs are still slower more due to the price point despite see some price corrections taking place.
“The price of large-size TVs has become less,” Bhatnagar said.
He said that only very high-end customers are going for screens beyond 75 inches and curved UHDs as they are still expensive.
Large-screen size TVs “have become affordable now and is making the upgrade possible,” Khanzadah said.
