``As the prices of electronic goods like TVs, washing machines and refrigerators have fallen across the board... consumers are waiting and watching before going in for actual buying,'' says a Mumbai-based dealer. As compared to last year, prices of TVs have declined by over 20 per cent while refrigerators and washing machines prices are also down by 5-20 per cent depending on the model and brand name.

According to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), the industry produced 3.74 lakh units of TVs while 1.79 lakh refrigerators were sold in November last year during the festival season. About 73,807 washing machines were produced in November last year. The sales figures were, however, not available with the CMIE as all the companies are not revealing the sales figures.

Simultaneously, the number of new models, especially from multinational companies, has multiplied. ``Whether it's television or microwave or refrigerator, hundreds of models are available. It's a buyer's market now unlike the situation five years ago,'' said an official of a research firm.Though few companies like BPL, Sony and Philips are still expecting a premium based on their brand name, it is Akai, Sansui and Aiwa which are topping the sales chart. ``Akai and Aiwa are the only two companies which are showing higher sales due to lower price tags. Consumers are expecting value for money instead of spending on brand names,'' said an official of Akbarallys, a leading dealer.

The Indian consumer goods industry, which is showing a double digit growth despite slowdown in the rest of economy, is fuelled by discounts, add ons and interest-free loans. Many companies are offering `scratch cards' just to entice customers while Aiwa and Akai are selling 21 inches colour TVs for less than Rs 10,000 while a 28 inches Akai is yours for Rs 17,000. ``We are expecting the prices to come down substantially as new entrants are slashing prices to penetrate markets. Of this, Aiwa and TCL are giving the maximum discounts,'' said a Videocon official.

While Videocon is marketing lower end TVs of Sansui and Akai, Baron International is offering products from Rs 6,000 onwards.

``We are planning to re-write the marketing concepts even in the cellular phone industry,'' says a Baron International official. The Rs 850-crore Baron also plans to offer Chinese company TCL's products at a far lower rates.

Some of the worst performers this year include the Japanese electronics giant, Sony which has unable to make the top five electronic good seller in India. Its 100 per cent-owned subsidiary, Aiwa is, however, showing better performance due to targeting the lower end of the market.

The future, say industry sources, is in selling digital TVs and big/flat screen TVs as it is happening in the rest of the world. The big TV market has taken off in a big way in China as consumers graduate from small TVs to bigger TVs. Indian industry expects the same trend to continue in India as more consumers will buy bigger screen TVs due to low prices.

According to industry estimates, sales after Diwali will come down anyway till next year when any big sporting event like Olympics will take place. "We hope the industry will show good sales though Diwali was not as good as expected,'' sources said.