Synopsis
SPPL, which recently entered into a brand licence agreement with German audio-video products maker Blaupunkt and launched TV here, expects the growth opportunity in the affordable smart TV segment to continue.
TV manufacturing company Super Plastronics Pvt Ltd (SPPL) expects a 25 per cent growth in revenue to around Rs 1,000 crore this financial year, led by the fast-growing affordable smart TV segment, said a top company official.
SPPL, which recently entered into a brand licence agreement with German audio-video products maker Blaupunkt and launched TV here, expects the growth opportunity in the affordable smart TV segment to continue.
The company is also expanding its infrastructure such as service centers and warehousing for last-mile delivery in tier-II and -III towns.
With brand Blaupunkt, the Noida-based company has now entered into the premium segment of Android Smart TVs NSE 0.70 %.
After this, SPPL has a portfolio of six brands operating in the TV and appliances segment, including Thomson, Kodak, White-Westinghouse and two of its in-house brands SVL and Suntek, besides Blaupunkt.
SPPL and its other group companies put together had a revenue of around Rs 800 crore in last financial year ended on March 31, 2021, said SPPL Chief Executive Officer Avneet Singh Marwah.
“Our goal is to cross an overall revenue of Rs 1,000 crore in FY 2021-22,” Marwah told PTI.
Marwah added that the pandemic-hit FY21 was a “fantastic” year for the company, which witnessed pent-up demand and change in the consumer trends.
“We see a huge trend for smart TVs. In a pandemic, what we were expecting to happen in the next five years, happened in just about 8-9 months only,” Marwah said.
During the pandemic, new TV soap operas and reality shows were not available to viewers as production work was stopped and the availability of affordable broadband shifted them towards OTT platforms, which fuelled the consumption of the online content and series on big TV screens.
“Now, there is a trend of buying a second TV at home because family members want to enjoy contents on their screens,” it said.
Besides, In 2020-21, there was also a sudden consumer shift in favour of the Indian brands after skirmishes at the border with a neighbouring country.
“There is a trend of promoting Indian manufacturing brands,” he said.
Besides, the company also plans to restart its original equipment manufacturing (OEM) business next year, after having an additional manufacturing capacity.
SPPL is investing over Rs 300 crore to set up a fully automated television manufacturing plant in Hapur, Uttar Pradesh.
Established in 1990, SPPL currently has a capacity to roll out nearly half a million units per annum, which will increase three times to 1.5 million sets after its Hapur facility is fully operational, Marwah added.
When asked whether the company plans to open exclusive brand outlets or experience zone for its products, he said: “It is very much possible after two years, when the brands settle down and then we would explore this option also.”
He, however, ruled out the option of brand licence agreement with more new brands and said: “We would continue to focus with whatever brands we have.”
Marwah also said the company is categorically placing all its brands to supplement each other in the highly competitive market.
Kodak has a presence in both offline and online marketplace, while Thomson is only an online brand competing with entry-level brands. Blaupunkt, with a rich audio legacy, would play in the premium segment.
Its American brand White-Westinghouse operates in the appliances segment, in which SPPL has a line-up for washing machines and plans to add more products into that.
“We invest on the infrastructure (of brands), try to grow our strength there and we maximise indigenisation and customise it as per the Indian consumer behaviour,” he said adding that SPPL has 550 service centres and 28 warehousings across India.
In the past two-three years, several foreign brands have come to India in the smart TV market through brand licensing routes, including Toshiba, Philips, Sharp, JVC, Telefunken, and Realme, among many others.
According to a joint report by the industry body CEAMA and Frost & Sullivan, the TV market is expected to grow to 284 lakh units in 2024-25 from 175 lakh units in 2018-19.