Football mania to deliver LCD TV sales boom

The European Football Championship, or Euro 2008, which will occupy almost the entire month of June, will be a big contest in more ways than one in Thailand.

Major players in the country's audio-visual market are gearing up to spend more than Bt1 billion in aggressive marketing campaigns aiming to take advantage of the sport's visual spectacle and the keenness of Thai football fans to see their heroes performing in the crisp definition of LCD TV.

The competition, which kicks off on June 7, will involve 16 of Europe's top national teams, playing in Austria and Switzerland. It is expected to at least double the size of Thailand's LCD TV market in the build-up to the final in Vienna on June 29.

The rivals include big-budget electronics giants Sony, Samsung, JVC, Panasonic, LG and Toshiba. All of them are expecting Euro 2008 to boost their sales and their shares of the market. This is despite high inflation and a rising cost of living, which have forced a slowdown in growth for Thailand's electrical-appliance industry so far this year.

LG Electronics (Thailand) deputy managing director Alongkorn Chujit said marketing budgets together amounting to more than Bt1 billion would be allocated by major LCD TV players to campaigns running concurrently with Euro 2008.

"We [LG] will invest about Bt200 million, particularly because we will be launching our new Scarlet TV sets.

We expect our overall TV sales during Euro 2008 to grow by between 20 and 30 per cent - to between Bt800 million and Bt1 billion," Alongkorn said. "About 30 per cent of these sales will be LCD TVs."

A senior staff member at JVC Sales & Service (Thailand) said the company expected demand for big-screen television sets, particularly LCD TVs, to increase by two-and-a-half to three times during the coming tournament, particularly in Bangkok and other cities. JVC is an official sponsor of Euro 2008.

"We expect a significant number of TV viewers - mainly in the big cities - to buy new LCD TVs to replace con ventional CRT [cathode ray tube] sets," he said, adding that JVC expected double-digit growth in TV sales during the tournament.

Toshiba (Thailand)'s president Hidenori Matsui said Euro 2008 would triple the demand for LCD TVs in Thailand.

He said Toshiba's sales growth in the first quarter was only 3 per cent, falling short of its 5-per-cent target.

"Consumer spending is quite low," Matsui said. "They have less confidence in the overall economy." As well, local inflation is high and there is no sign of any reduction in petrol prices. Because of these negative factors, people are hesitating to spend, he said.However, Toshiba (Thailand) has forecast sales growth of 5 per cent, year on year, for its 2008 fiscal year, which begins this month.

Sony Thai director Jakkrit Keeratichokchaikun said his company had achieved sales growth of about 5 per cent in the first quarter.

"Consumer spending was still inactive in the first quarter and all major suppliers need to launch marketing activities and promotional campaigns to boost sales," Jakkrit said. "However, we expect the coming Euro 2008 football tournament to help stimulate demand for LCD TVs in the second quarter, with sales expected to about double." Sony Thai is planning a special campaign to coincide with Euro 2008, he said.

As well as TV manufacturers, other sectors of the economy are preparing for Euro 2008 and vastly increased business.

Yum Restaurants, the operator of KFC restaurants, expects greater demand for quick-service restaurants offering home delivery.

"We expect demand for home deliveries of fast food to grow by between 30 and 40 per cent during Euro 2008 because many football fans will wake up at night to watch the matches," said senior communications manager Witawat Mesommonta.

He said that 19 KFC restaurants out of a total of 324 currently offered a home-delivery service up to midnight, mostly in Bangkok.