In today’s technologically-advanced society, tech-savvy and affluent consumers’ eagerness to splurge on new gadgets and innovations continues to spur the development of the consumer electronics industry. According to global market research company GfK Asia, Southeast Asia’s consumer electronics industry totalled USD1.415 billion in the first quarter of 2011, driven by the continual growth of value segments with consumers’ increasing adoption of new technologies.
Television, further segmented into CRT, LCD and plasma, forms the core of the demand within the consumer electronics sector, which also includes DVD player/recorder (7 percent), audio home system (6 percent), portable media player (4 percent) and camcorder (3 percent).
First quarter revenue from the LCD market takes up 58 percent of the overall consumer electronics sales pie as compared to 50 percent in the previous year.
"GfK findings reported an average price increase of 8.7 percent in the consumer electronics category in the Southeast Asian countries, and this is indicative of the heightened pace in market switchover to newer technology, such as from CRT to flat panel TV, and basic DVD players to blu-ray players, etc." commented Jasmine Lim, regional account director for consumer electronics, GfK Asia. "This phenomenon is particularly high in the developing economies of Vietnam and Indonesia where growth rates hit 38 and 37 percent over the same period last year."
In terms of adoption of TV technology, markets in this region are presently at varying developmental stages. Over half of all TV units sold in Indonesia (66 percent) and Philippines (58 percent) were still CRT-TVs while in Singapore, the number has dwindled to almost none, with LCD and plasma TVs instead forming nearly all of consumers’ purchases. The adoption rate of flat panel TVs in Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand are slightly less advanced with its first quarter sales volume reaching 84, 66 and 53 percent respectively.
"The prevailing television technology in a country – be it CRT, LCD, LED or 3D TVs, is reflective of its economic status. There is a direct correlation since the relative affluence and living standards in these countries have a big role to play in how quickly the switchover in technology will take place," said Lim. "Trends in North Asia serve as a good indicator of Southeast Asia’s future – we can expect to see LED TVs entering the mass market like in Hong Kong and South Korea where almost one LED TV is being sold for every LCD screen."
Currently leading at the forefront in Southeast Asia is Singapore. LED TV sales jumped considerably by 34 percent in the last one year to hit 38 percent of overall TV units being sold in quarter one. Consumers here are also most receptive towards newer TV models with web content access features, also known as smart TV. One in every ten TV units sold in Singapore in quarter one was a smart TV. Across the region, the smart TV market has grown by 21 percent over the same quarter last year. "With some of the largest and most populous developing countries hailing from Southeast Asia, the full potential of the TV market in this region is far from being realised," said Lim. "The industry will continue thriving and contribute substantially as a key driving force of the consumer electronics industry," she concluded.