Kodak forays into HD LED TVs with SPPL

Eastman Kodak company, known for its films and cameras, on Thursday forayed into the HD LED TV business by entering into a partnership with Noida-based Super Plastronics Pvt Ltd (SSPL).

SPPL, which manufactures TVs under the brand names of Prime, Suntek, Crown and Beltek, launched five HD LED TVs in screen sizes of 32, 40 and 50 inches at a price point of ₹13,500 and upwards. The company would initially sell the TVs online with channel partners like Shopclues, Flipkart and Amazon. However, Shopclues will be launching its 32-inch series exclusively on its website.

"Kodak has a great heritage in the consumer imaging marketplace. This heritage not only includes image capture, but image display. Kodak HD LED TV's continue our brand presence in the consumer electronics market in a way that assures customers that they are getting a high quality product at a great price," Avneet Singh Marwah, director, SPPL said.

"The Indian TV segment is currently undergoing a transition phase fueled by the aspirations of the youth in the country, looking for products and services which match their values and expectations. To give a perspective, in 2015, over 14.5 million TV sets were sold across India and over 83 percent of these were LED/ LCD sets. Furthermore, as a leading TV manufacturer in India we understand the pulse of our customers and look forward to a healthy response we foresee for our product range," he added.

The smart HD LED TVs (three models) have Wi-Fi, ARM Cortex A7 processor and runs on Android version 4.4. The TVs come with wide-viewing angles and have features such as 'Progressive scan', 'YPrPb resolution' and response time of less than eight miliseconds. For connectivity, the TV sets support HDMI, USB and VGA ports.

A Kodak spokesperson confirmed that the company had tied up with SPPL as the company had demonstrated a keen understanding of the HD LED TV marketplace, consumer needs, and how the Kodak brand can deliver a high value solution. In addition, local manufacturing, R&D, and extensive customer support capabilities played a role in the selection.

SPPL and Kodak have plans to launch 4K TV and curved TV series in the fourth quarter of this fiscal. "We would be very aggressive in the price point for these series," Marwah added. The company would assemble Kodak range of LED TVs at its three units at Jammu, Noida and Una in Himachal Pradesh.