Thailand's sales of TV sets to sustain growth in 2013

BANGKOK, February 23 (TNA) - Sales of television sets are expected to sustain growth in 2013 due to an increase in houses in Bangkok and surrounding provinces and a plan by the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) to hold an auction for licence of digital television in July. Kasikorn Research Centre (KRC) projected on Saturday that sales of TV sets in Thailand this year should reach 2.8-3.1 million, worth 37.2-38.7 billion baht, up around 10.2–19.3 per cent from last year's sales. KRC pointed out that the increased sales of TV sets this year result from NBTC's plan to hold the auction for licences this July in operating digital TV system, replacing the current analog system, forcing people to either buy digital TV sets or buying digital signal receiver boxes. According to the Bangkok-based research firm, domestic demand for digital TV is to become clearer during the last quarter of this year, with its price expected to be about 10 per cent more expensive than the LED analog TV in the country. Also, the leading Thai think tank acknowledged, sales of digital TV are to increase because about 100,000 units of new houses are to be built in Bangkok and neighbouring provinces in 2013.(TNA)