Market Sizing Case: Estimating Delhi's Installed Base of Television Sets

In a product manager interview, you are asked how many televisions there are in Delhi. Talk the interviewer through how you would reach a number. State each assumption as you make it, show the arithmetic, and finish with a single estimate and a check of whether it is reasonable. ```hint Pick the right unit to count Televisions are bought and shared by a household rather than by an individual, and how many a home owns varies a lot with income. Decide which unit to count and which split of that unit changes the number of sets per unit the most. ``` ### Clarifying Questions - Does "Delhi" mean the city territory itself, or the wider capital region that also takes in neighboring cities such as Gurugram and Noida? - Should only sets in homes count, or also those in hotels, hospitals, restaurants, shops and offices? - Do we count only working sets in use, or also old sets in storage and unsold stock in stores? - Do computer monitors, projectors and screens in cars count, or only television sets? ### What a Strong Answer Covers - A clear scope for what counts as a television and which geography, agreed before any arithmetic - A structure built on a sensible counting unit, split into segments whose TV ownership truly differs - Explicit, round, labeled assumptions and arithmetic that is correct and easy to follow - A deliberate decision about sets outside homes: estimated separately or excluded with a reason - A sanity check from an independent angle, and a final answer given as a rounded figure with a range rather than false precision ### Follow-up Questions - Which single assumption moves your answer the most, and what real data would you use to firm it up? - How would the estimate change if the interviewer asked only for smart TVs? - How would you expect this number to change over the next five years as more viewing moves to phones?