Record sale of TV sets as FIFA World Cup nears

Bangladesh is witnessing a record sale of television sets in the last couple of months as just a few days are left to the beginning of the FIFA World Cup 2014, the biggest sporting event in the world, reports BSS.
Irrespective of young and old, rich or poor, most of the people from all walks of life are enthusiastically waiting to watch live their favourite football sport on new TV screen.
The agency correspondent visited a number of markets of electronic goods in the city and found that both local and foreign brands are selling well with offer of various discounts and reduction in prices.
Talking to the news agency, Engr Shakura Sharmin Khan, a civil servant who was buying a new television at the National Stadium market, said she wants to replace her old TV set with an LED one just for the FIFA World Cup.
"Although it is an additional pressure for my family, I want to have a new TV set. I don't want to miss the opportunity of watching the World Cup football together with all of my family members," said Ms Khan, who came from Mirpur.
Local manufacturers beefed up their production of television sets while traders of foreign companies increased the supply of the electronic product to meet the additional demand for the same among consumers.
Apart from local brands like Walton and Marcel, foreign companies such as Samsung, LG, Singer, Panasonic and Transtec are among them in the markets.
Emdadul Haque Sarkar, Head of Marketing of RB Group, said the sale of Walton television increased by around 41 per cent last month compared to that of the month of April.
"We usually keep 40,000-50,000 television sets in our stock but this time we have kept stock of over 0.15 million sets to meet the extra demand just for the FIFA World Cup 2014," he said.  
"We've a target to sell 70,000 televisions sets during the next 45 days. We've already introduced 10 models of 14-inch CRT television, eight models of 21-inch television in markets as per the taste and attitude of consumers", Moudud Parvez Mamun, In-Charge (Sales) of Walton Television said.
Sarwar Jahan, Sales Manager of Rangs Electronics, an importer of Sony brand electronics goods, said their company sold out around 4,000 TV sets each month this year. "Our sales will exceed 5,000 this month," he said. Around 1.20-1.30 million TV sets are produced in the country every year while the country imports 0.20 million sets, according to the Bangladesh TV Manufacturers Association (BTMA).
As many as 1.44 million TV sets were sold in last fiscal year (FY), 2013-14, while about 0.74 million sets were sold in just six months until December of the current fiscal, according to the association.