Avneet Singh Marwah, CEO, Super Plastronics, had been making televisions for Indian consumer electronics companies like BPL, Intex and Crown. Last year he decided to take up the brand license for the US-based bankrupt brand of Kodak to make washing machines and televisions. Recently he also added the brand license of French company Thomson, which had exited India almost 12 years ago.

Defunct consumer electronic brands are finding their way back to the Indian market. Categories like televisions and washing machines are now witness to age-old consumer electronic brands like Kodak, Thomson and Sharp, most of whom are being positioned as ‘price warriors’ at a time when Chinese brands are already flooding the market with low-priced models. After going bankrupt in 2012, US-based Kodak, which had its equity in films and camera, has already entered televisions and washing machines in India. French brand Thomson is also back with its smart televisions and has been trying to outprice the Chinese players like Xiaomi with its aggressive online strategy.

Difficult route

Some of these new brands are also trying to beat the existing Chinese brands with their aggressive pricing. For instance, Thomson is selling its 32-inch television sets at ₹13,490, which is a tad lower than Chinese brand Xiaomi at ₹13,999.

“These are old brands with residual brand equity and selling online at lower prices has changed the dynamics of consumer electronics,’’ says Avneet Singh Marwa, CEO, Super Plastronics. But making a mark in categories like television, which is dominated by big brands like Samsung, Sony and LG will never be easy for the new players. While most are trying an online strategy to begin with, being absent for a prolonged period will make it tough for them to re-establish their presence in the already cluttered market. “Almost 75 per cent of the television category comprises of the top three brands. This leaves the new players just 25 per cent of the market and most have a half-hearted strategy of going online first to test their brands in the country, and while some are trying to make a comeback with OEM players, their sustenance is going to be doubtful in the long run,’’ says YV Verma, Industry veteran and former COO, LG India.

In fact even established Japanese brands like Hitachi and Sharp have not found it easy to sell their televisions. Last year Sharp re-entered the Indian market in alliance with Reliance Industries. The Japanese electronic brand’s current owner, Foxconn, had concluded a distribution and product development arrangement with Reliance Retail to sell its full product range. As for Hitachi, it has resorted to selling air conditioners and refrigerators as it did not find adequate demand for its televisions.

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