South Korean corporation Samsung is banking on big sporting events to boost TV sales in Thailand amid the high level of household debt and an intense price war.
"The Thai television market faced intense price competition in 2023. Sales by unit did not decline, but the overall average price did," said Chawapoj Thienthong, director of AV Business at Thai Samsung Electronics Co.
He said the market value has continued to decline over the past 3-4 years.
In 2023, the market was worth 20 billion baht, slightly lower than the previous year, with 2.5 million units sold.
In the same year, Samsung TV sales grew by 8% thanks to the premium TV sector – specifically for TVs larger in length than 75 inches.
This year, television sales during January to February declined slightly due to the country's gradual economic recovery.
However, he believes the market value is likely to post meagre growth this year as a result of upcoming sport events.
This year's major events include the Uefa Euro 2024 football tournament, which is scheduled to take place from June 14 until July 14, followed by the Summer Olympics from July 26 until Aug 11 in Paris, France, along with the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, which run from Aug 28 until Sept 8.
"The data showed that during the world's major sporting events, TV sales would grow by 20%," said Mr Chawapoj.
Moreover, Thai Samsung also benefited from the government's stimulus scheme under the "Easy E-Receipt" programme which ran from January until mid-February, increasing the company's TV sales by up to 19%.
Despite the tailwinds from upcoming sport events, Thailand's household debt-to-GDP ratio was 90.9% in the third quarter of 2023, according to the National Economic and Social Development Council.
Mr Chawapoj said the company pushes premium product to the market, such as Neo QLED 8K OLED TV, with embedded AI capabilities.
The company sales' proportion in the premium segment is higher than that of competitors due to less impact from the country's slugglish economic growth, which makes the company less concerned about the high debt ratio, Mr Chawapoj said.
In addition, the company has partnered with KB J Capital Co Ltd, a South Korean financial service provider, by launching an instalment campaign for up to 24 months.
"The loan amount increased from 15,000 baht to up to 45,000 baht, which will allow customers to purchase bigger TV sets."
Mr Chawapoj views this year's demand for new TVs as promising and with all the tailwinds, the company aims to achieve 10% growth in overall sales.