Consumer electronics maker LG Electronics India is looking at a turnover of Rs 11,000 crore this year, up 16 per cent from Rs 9,500 crore last year.
Bulk of the growth is expected to come from high-end segments such as LCD, plasma televisions, laptops and GSM phones.
“Our thrust area right now is high-end products where value sales dominate more than volume,” said Amitabh Tiwari, business group head, consumer electronics and kitchen appliances.
“Sale of products like LCD televisions is growing at over 300 per cent. We expect the television segment itself to contribute close to Rs 3,000 crore this calendar year to LG’s overall turnover, which will be a growth of 16 per cent over last year,” he added. LG Electronics India, a wholly-owned subsidiary of South Korea’s LG Electronics, is also in the process of revamping its strategy as sales in the July-August period failed to meet expectations because of factors such as high input costs and inflation.
“We are in the process of revamping our strategy and have been absorbing most of the costs till now without passing on the same to customers. As of now we are sticking to the targets, plans and commitments. We will take a final call on whether we need to revisit our plans and on cost-cutting measures sometime in 2009,” Tiwari said.
LG is aiming at 30 per cent market share in the flat panel display segment by this year-end. Of the total television sales, around Rs 600-650 crore came from LCD television. The consumer electronics company had raised prices of its colour televisions by about 4 per cent from August 1. Tiwari said the company expected the global financial meltdown to have a recessionary impact on the Indian market.
As part of its cost-cutting initiatives, the company has slowed down remodeling of its 1,600 retail outlets and has also stopped adding any more.
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LG Electronics will spend close to Rs 85 crore over September and October for marketing initiatives and promotional offers during the festive season. It expects to garner sales of close to Rs 1,100 crore during this period.
“The September-October months make up as much as 35 per cent of our turnover. We aim to sell close to 10,00,000 CTVs during the festive month, and around 2,00,000 in East,” informed Tiwari.
The company on Thursday launched its Jazz Full High Definition LCD televisions in India. This is LG’s second offering in the segment this year after Scarlet. LG will spend close to Rs 30 crore in marketing its Jazz range over the next two months.
“Jazz will redefine expectations for television sound. Through this launch we plan to garner 30 per cent market share in the FPD Segment by the year-end,” Tiwari added.
The launch incorporates LG’s latest innovation enhancing sleek design, audio performance and rich image resolution delivering a truly captivating viewing experience.
The company has also lined up promotional offers such as a pack of DVD player with 50 DVDs free on purchase of select high-end LCD televisions.