Plasma display market set to exceed 9,800 units

The domestic plasma display market, including both products that can be used only as TV sets and multifunctional plasma screens, will witness sales of 9,800 units this year, worth approximately 10 million euros, Dana Iorga, the general manager of IT&S company, an importer and distributor of IT&C products, estimated for ZF.
The company domestically distributes Nec plasma displays and Nec and Canon projectors.
Officials of LG Romania, the company boasting the biggest share of the domestic plasma TV market, told ZF the total number of units to be sold on the domestic market would amount to 8,000 at the highest this year, without making comments on the value of the market.
As regards the factors that have had a notable impact on this year’s sales, LG representatives mentioned the world football championships of Germany, which boosted sales by approximately 60% compared with the previous period. Demand spurred by the World Cup was more strongly felt by IT&S, which usually sells less than LG, hence the higher growth. “We’ve had a sales peak due to the world championships, with sales advancing by approximately 350% in the case of plasma TVs and projectors against the similar period of last year,” states Dana Iorga.
She anticipates “the market of projectors will this year amount to 8,800 units, namely 7 million euros, accounting for growth by about 50% in terms of units. The value of the market will see slower growth because of the decline in the average product price”.
“We estimate the domestic plasma and LCD TV market will witness constant growth each year,” said Han Khyu, LG chairman.
According to Dana Iorga, the volume of sales is negatively influenced by the 42% customs duty levied for plasma and LCD televisions.
“This duty accounts for almost 50% in the value of the product, so that it hurts both the industry and the consumers. In EU member states, this tax does not exist in the EU legislation, so that, we, importers, are waiting for Romania’s legislation to be brought in line with that of the EU, which would do away with this tax,” says Dana Iorga.
According to IT&S estimates, the projector market revolved around 5,800 units last year, with a total value of 4.3 million euros, while the plasma display market was made up of approximately 6,100 units, with a value of 5.3 million euros.
According to a survey that monitored the trend of sales of TVs on the domestic market during the February 2005-March 2006 period, LG has a 26.2% share of the total sales of plasma TVs in Romania. The company’s officials chose not to offer any further details related to this survey and the companies filling the next three positions at the top of the ranking, specifying only that they sold between 2,000 and 2,500 plasma TVs last year.