Super Plastronics plans to reach Rs 1,000 crore in current financial year

Super Plastronics Pvt Ltd (SPPL) expects the growth opportunity in the affordable smart TV segment to continue

With an agreement recently signed with German manufacturer Blaupunkt, SPPL recently launched TV in the country and expects further growth in the affordable smart TV market.

As part of its expansion plans, the company is also building service centers and warehousing facilities in tier-II and tier-III cities.

The Noida-based company has entered the premium segment of Android Smart TVs with Blaupunkt.

With these, SPPL now has a portfolio of six brands operating in the TV and appliance market, including Thomson, Kodak, Whitewestinghouse, and its two own brands SVL and Suntek, as well as Blaupunkt.

According to SPPL Chief Executive Officer Avneet Singh Marwah, the group’s revenue for the last financial year ended on March 31, 2021 was around Rs 800 crore.

“Our goal is to cross an overall revenue of Rs 1,000 crore in FY 2021-22,” Marwah told PTI.

The pandemic-hit FY21 was a “fantastic” year for the company, which witnessed pent-up demand and changes in consumer trends.

“Smart TVs are on the rise. In a pandemic, what we were expecting to happen in five years happened in just eight to nine months,” Marwah said.

As production work on new TV soap operas and reality programs was delayed, viewers shifted to OTT platforms in order to consume the online content and series.

“Families are now buying a second TV so they can enjoy content on their screens,” it said.

Besides, there was a sudden shift in consumer preference towards Indian brands in 2020-21, after skirmishes at the border with a neighboring country.

“There is a trend of promoting Indian manufacturing brands,” he said.

In addition, the company plans to restart its original equipment manufacturing (OEM) business next year after adding more manufacturing capacity.

Over Rs 300 crore is being invested by SPPL to set up an automated TV manufacturing plant in Hapur, Uttar Pradesh.

With its Hapur facility set to open next year, SPPL’s capacity increase is expected to reach 1.5 million sets, Marwah explained.

He responded to a question about the company’s plans to open exclusive brand outlets or experience zones for its products saying: “It is possible after two years, when the brands settle down, and then we will explore this option as well.”

However, he ruled out the possibility of brand licensing with more new brands, saying: “We would continue to focus on our existing brands.”.

Marwah said the company is categorically positioning all its brands to complement one another in the highly competitive market.

Kodak has a presence both online and offline, while Thomson is only an online brand competing with entry-level brands. Blupunkt would play in the premium segment due to its rich audio heritage.

SPPL’s American brand White-Westinghouse competes in the appliances segment, in which they have a line-up of washing machines and intend to add more.

Increasing indigenisation and customizing them as per Indian consumer behavior is what we focus on in building our brand infrastructure (of brands).” He added that SPPL has 550 service centers across India and 28 warehouses.

Recently, several foreign brands, including Toshiba, Philips, Sharp, JVC, Telefunken, and Realme, have expanded into India’s smart TV market through brand licensing.

Various industry associations, including CEAMA and Frost & Sullivan, predict that the TV market will grow to 284 lakh units by 2024-25 from 175 lakh units in 2018-19.