Industry sources feel that while the season has been good for some multinational brands like Samsung and LG, the industry per se has not grown on the lines expected. The marginal growth in fact has been at the expense of smaller brands, that had been seeing sales of 4,000-5,000 sets a month.

Says Mr Rajeev Karwal, president, Cetma, (Consumer Electronics & TV Manufacturers Association),``The CTV industry in primary sales must have sold about 6 lakh units, while in the secondary sector, it would be similar to last year's i.e around 5.5 lakh.''

According to Cetma officials, this year, the industry has seen a lacklustre Diwali. From qualitative feedback, it appears that most companies jacked up production in anticipation of the usual Diwali-buying spree. But expectations were not met and the majority of companies and dealers will be left with huge inventories, say officials.

Even though the festive season benefit mainly goes to lifestyle products with less market penetration, like washing machines and microwave ovens, October-December usually accounts for 35 per cent of the total yearly sales of televisions. The last five years had seen a steady growth in CTV sales, mainly because of the downward trend in prices. In contrast, this year, there has actually been an increase in prices, with the hike in the cost of components, customs duty and sales tax.

However, individual brands like LG, Samsung and Panasonic claim buoyant Diwali season sales. While LG and Samsung claim notching up 50 per cent and 49 per cent higher sales this year over last year, even Panasonic, a comparatively smaller player, says its sales in October have doubled.

``We sold 22,000 CTVs this October against 11,000 in the corresponding festive period last year. Between September and October itself, we have seen a 100 per cent growth in CTVs and 200 per cent in audios," says Mr Gurdeep Singh, director, sales, marketing & services, National Panasonic India.

Most of the sales have come about in the last week of October.