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The beginning of the new year may prove costly for people planning to buy a TV. Despite the cut in GST, there are signs of price rise due to memory chip shortage and rupee weakness. The industry says that the prices of TV sets may go up from January.
New Delhi. This news can be a shock for customers planning to buy TV before the beginning of the new year. Despite the cut in GST, there are signs of increase in television prices from January. Industry experts say that due to acute shortage of memory chips and weak rupee, the costs of companies have increased rapidly, which can now directly impact the consumers.
Weak rupee increases cost concerns
Recently the rupee has crossed the level of Rs 90 per dollar for the first time. This has increased the pressure on electronics companies, because only about 30 percent domestic value addition is in LED TV. Important parts like open cells, semiconductor chips and motherboards have to be imported. Due to the fall in the rupee, the cost of these imported components is increasing, due to which the prices of TVs are likely to go up.
The demand for AI upsets the balance of memory chips.
Global memory chip crisis is also a major reason for TV becoming expensive. Due to the tremendous demand for high-bandwidth memory for artificial intelligence servers, there is a severe shortage of DRAM and flash memory in the market. Chip manufacturing companies are focusing on more profitable AI chips, due to which the supply for traditional electronic products like TV has decreased and prices are increasing rapidly.
Indications from companies: Prices will increase from January
According to NS Satish, Chairman of Haier Appliances India, due to shortage of memory chips and weak rupee, the prices of LED TVs may increase by about three percent. At the same time, SPPL, the company that holds licenses for brands like Thomson, Kodak and Blaupunkt, says that the prices of memory chips have increased by 500 percent in the last three months. According to the company’s CEO Avneet Singh Marwah, due to these circumstances, TV prices may increase by 7 to 10 percent from January. Some manufacturers have also informed the dealers about the possible price increase, which makes it clear that customers may soon have to face expensive TVs.
