(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Mega international sport events in 2016 are expected to boost TV sales in the UAE, according to power retailers.
In the sixth edition of ICC World Twenty20 16 teams are fighting to win the cup. Sri Lanka is the defending champion and the international cricket event is being played in India's seven cities. Its final will be played on April 3.
Sport seasons usually draw a large number of customers looking to upgrade their televisions to a larger screen size or better resolution, such as HD, 4K or UHD TVs.
A majority of expatriates in the UAE belongs to cricket-playing nations. The ongoing ICC World Twenty20 cricket event in India has entered into crucial stage and big screen size TVs along with advanced picture quality will keep cricket fans closer to cricket ground to watch the action-packed 20-over format international matches.
"We generally expect a better year for TV sales overall due to various sporting events that are due to take place in 2016, including the ICC TwentyT20 World Cup, Euro 2016 Football Championships and Olympic Games in Rio," chief operating officer of Jacky's Retail Ashish Panjabi told Khaleej Times.
The forthcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) next month will also keep cricket fans engaged in cricket stadiums in India and here in the UAE in front of TV screens.
Panjabi added: "We are expecting the sales to start increasing as the year moves on with each sporting event. Cricket is not for everyone but overall the combination of all these events should see TV sales improve this year."
France will host Euro 2016 Football Championship from June 10, 2016 to July 10, 2016 in 10 cities. The Olympic Games - biggest sporting event - will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from August 5-21, 2016.
Panjabi said that there has been a move towards SUHD televisions and curve televisions when these are coming up for replacement.
"We anticipate SUHD sales will increase as major sporting events like football or the Olympics tend to be broadcast in the highest quality, which helps boost sales of televisions that carry the latest technology," he explained.
Bigger is always better and that's the reason almost all major electronics retailers have announced promotions for bigger screen sizes. Samsung's 78-inch screen size TV is being promoted with Dh3,699 discount. LG is also selling 70-inch TV with Dh3,929 discount.
Emax is running a promotion of Dh6,000 cashback on 75-inch Sony 4K Bravia TV. The retailer is also offering Dh3,000 cashback on 70-inch LG TV. Other companies' TVs are also available on discounted prices and they include: Sharp, Hisence, and TCL among others.
Emax chief executive officer Neelesh Bhatnagar expects a significant hype in sales of TVs. In such events, consumers not only tend to watch the live streaming of the match at home but also go to various hotels, cafes and restaurants to enjoy sport events. "It is a trend that we have been witnessing over the years with such events, and this time again the trend is expected to continue," Bhatnagar explained.
Talking about TV sales since the beginning of this year, he said TV sales overall have been growing at a steady pace during the recent Dubai Shopping Festival which concluded end of January 2016.
"We are certainly expecting a positive response around this time of the year due to the current ICC Cricket World Cup, Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship, Champions League round of 16 to name a few," he said.
He added: "This is definitely the season for TVs, predominantly because of the several global sporting events and ICC cricket event being one of the most anticipated events in this part of the world due to the big Asian and English population that are considered big fans of this game."
Another electronics retailer Plug Ins has seen a small increase in certain panel sizes. The company's general manager Omar Abushaban said: "During major sporting events we generally see an increase in sales of large screen TVs and this time there is also a small increase in sales."
"In the past we have seen an increase in TV sales when there is a major sporting event. Cricket is extremely popular especially in the UAE with a huge fan following and we are optimistic that sales will spike during this period," Abushaban added.
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