According to Mohammad Reza Shahidi, secretary of the Association of Audiovisual Device Producers, current market demand for television sets in Iran is at least 1.7 million per year, IRNA reported.
"Last year’s [March 2019-20] production was lower than market demand," he said.
“The audiovisual equipment manufacturing industry will need $350 million in the fiscal 2020-21 to import raw materials and elements used in the manufacturing of electronics.”
The official believes the main problem of this industry is the sheer size of smuggling into the domestic market.
He had earlier said around 700,000 television sets are smuggled into the Iranian market annually, which is unprecedented in the last 20 years in spite of the ban on the import of foreign-made televisions.
Last year, an Indian manufacturing company of various brands of home appliances said it planned to make investments in Qazvin Province for the establishment of a production line.
Representatives of the Indian company met and held talks with provincial officials in Qazvin, Mehr News Agency reported, without mentioning the name of the Indian company.
As for the reason behind selecting Qazvin Province from among other Iranian provinces for investment, the Indian side said, “as compared to Tehran, Qazvin enjoys high potentials and capacities for investment activities.”
“Our company will start its production in Qazvin in 2020 and all state-of-the-art technologies for manufacturing home appliances will be transferred to this province within five years.”
Given the US sanctions and in the absence of two top South Korean brands of home appliances in Iranian market i.e. Samsung and LG, a suitable opportunity has been created in Iran for investment, the Indian side said.
The two South Korean brands for long dominated Iran's home appliance market prior to the latest round of US sanctions.
The Indian company started manufacturing home appliances’ parts and equipment in 2004 for two South Korean companies, i.e. Samsung and LG, but the company embarked on producing these parts itself in 2012.
Once sanctions imposed on Iran are lifted, Iran will get the lion’s share of the whole Central Asian markets, according to the Indian side, adding that in the first phase of this project, the company will manufacture refrigerators, LCD TVs and washing machines in Qazvin Province.