Are televisions requiring repairs sooner? - 1 in 3 households surveyed say their last television had problems within 5 years; most did not go to company for repair due to high charges

August 27, 2024, New Delhi: One of the common complaints that LocalCircles has regularly been receiving on its platform over the last couple of years has been of smart TV’s failing and the high costs involved in getting their repairs done outside the warranty period. With the growth of OTT platforms and households replacing their LCD TV with a Smart TV, demand for them has surged in the last 5 years. The India Smart TV Market alone was valued at USD 11.53 Billion in 2023 and the India Smart TV revenue is expected to grow at a CAGR of 16.57% from 2024 to 2030, reaching nearly USD 33.72 Billion by 2030.

However, with many middle and upper middle-class households upgrading to Smart TVs in the last 5 years, the complaints have also risen. LocalCircles conducted a survey to understand how households purchased a new TV set in the last 5 years, whether they have faced any problems with the new television so far, and if so, how did they get it repaired. The survey received over 36,000 responses from consumers located in 329 districts of India. 64% respondents were men while 36% respondents were women. 44% respondents were from tier 1, 32% from tier 2 and 24% respondents were from tier 3, 4 and rural districts.

35% households who bought a television in the last 5 years, purchased it via eCommerce platforms

There are endless options for buying televisions, including on EMIs through stores offline and online. The survey first asked, “When you had to buy a new television in the last 5 years, how did you purchase it?” In response, the majority or 57% of consumers said they “visited a retail electronics store and purchased”, 6% “called a retail electronics store and got it home delivered”, and 35% “placed an order via eCommerce platform and got it home delivered”, 2% gave no clear response. This question in the survey received 12,676 responses. To sum up, 35% households who bought a television in the last 5 years, purchased it via eCommerce platforms.

32% consumers say their last television had problems in less than 5 years

New televisions typically have manufacturer’s warranty for 1 year and in some rare cases up to 3 years from the date of purchase, which is a surety against any manufacturing defect. The next question in the survey asked household consumers, “How long did your last television work without needing a repair?” Out of 12,425 who responded to the query, the majority or 61% of consumers said it lasted “5+ years”, 19% said “3-5 years”, 9% said “2-3 years”, 3% said “1-2 years”. Breaking down the poll, 1% said it lasted “Less than 1 year”, 5% said “Last television was fine but we upgraded for more features”. 2% couldn't say. It is to be noted that 13% of those surveyed indicated that their television worked properly for less than one year to around 3 years. This does not speak well of the quality of many televisions sold in the market or through e-platform. To sum up, 32% consumers say their last television went bad in less than 5 years.

66% of those who chose to get their television repaired in the last 5 years, majority chose to get it “repaired locally” instead of going to the brand

​The survey next asked, “When you had a television that needed repairs in the last 5 years, what did you do?” Of the total 11,005 responses to this question, 16% indicated that they “just bought a new television instead as it was cost prohibitive to get it repaired” while 15% “just bought a new television instead as I wanted newer features or bigger size or both” and 3% gave no clear response. The remaining 66% chose to get their television repaired. The survey data shows the biggest chunk of 31% respondents chose to get it “repaired locally and paid reasonable charges”; 29% got it repaired from the “company and paid excessive charges”; 3% revealed that they got “it repaired from the company and paid reasonable charges”; 3% “got it repaired from the company without charges as it was under warranty”. To sum up, of those who had a television needing repair in the last 5 years only 35% got it repaired by the brand/ company while the other opted for local repairs and television upgrade.

The findings clearly indicate that televisions are failing much faster than in the previous decades when televisions would function 5-7 years normally and sometimes even 10 years without needing any repairs. What the survey also finds is that only 3% households indicated that their television failed during warranty which means televisions are most failing in the 1–5-year period, generally outside warranty and when consumers approach the brand, the repair cost that is quoted many times is high, leading to consumers to either opt for local repairs or junking/selling the TV set and upgrading to a newer one.

In summary, 35% of those who bought a television in the last 5 years purchased it via eCommerce platforms. The survey also finds that 32% of consumers faced problems with their last television in less than 5 years of its purchase, majority outside of the 1 year warranty period. It also learns that among those who needed repairs, majority opted for local repairs as repairs through the television company/brand was cost prohibitive and 31% of them just upgraded to a newer television set. With lack of standardization of services, the companies price their service/repair at a premium while the local vendors repair at low costs, sometimes they can cause damage, making things worse. The need of the hour is for creation of standards and making programs like Right to Repair operational. Such consumer centric programs are just on paper currently. They need to be implemented rigorously to lower the cost of quality repair. LocalCircles will escalate these findings to the key stakeholders in the Government for their interventions and actions.

Survey Demographics

The survey received over 36,000 responses from consumers located in 329 districts of India. 64% respondents were men while 36% respondents were women. 44% respondents were from tier 1, 32% from tier 2 and 24% respondents were from tier 3, 4 and rural districts. The survey was conducted via the LocalCircles platform and all participants were validated citizens who had to be registered with LocalCircles to participate in this survey.