Great demand for portable TV sets ahead of the World Cup

Demand for portable television has rocketed, ahead of the World Cup football finals, according to suppliers of electrical goods.

The trend is being put down to the fact that bosses are giving the go-ahead to employees to bring a TV to their place of work between May and June to watch the matches, most of which have a morning kick-off. Many employers, it seems, are taking the view that allowing a portable television at the workplace is certainly preferable to losing workers to sick leave or having them argue over who booked time off first.

A spokesman for Sound Machine, importers of white goods such as Samsung, told The Malta Financial and Business Times that hundreds of people have asked them for portable TVs.

The Internet may be another source for watching games, since some sites are to transmit matches live as well and fans from different continents, including those in the hosting countries, are gearing up to watch the matches via the net.

In fact, about 24.38 million Koreans log on to the internet at least once a month and broadband subscribers reached 7.8 million as of end-December last year, charging ahead in the high-speed Internet sector even compared with advanced countries.

Sales of digital and high-definition TV sets in Korea are sluggish due to the steep prices. Even low-end digital TV sets are sold at over two million won and mainstream models have price tags of more than three million won.

Annual demand for TV sets, including replacements, is about 2.3 million units, more than 40 percent of which are 29-inches or bigger. They said electronics makers are already working on new digital TV models in a bid to slash prices and set off a boom, timed with the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup.

FIFA gave permission to use not only airwaves but also Internet broadcasting to cover the World Cup championship, and organisers can broadcast the games on the web if using the multicasting method.