| "We shall leverage the strong foundation that our consumer electronic and home appliance products have developed to establish ourselves in the fast growing IT and communication segments. The target for PC sales in 2005 is two lakh as against the 50,000 that we expect to sell by the end of 2004," said Kwang-Ro Kim, managing director, LG Electronics. |
| Kim was in the city to launch the company's Pro Server-PA105 and PA110 targeted at the small and medium business (SMB) segment and two new GSM models C1100 and F7100. |
| The cost of its GSM phones range from Rs 5,500 to Rs 17,500 and the cost of the Pro server range is between Rs 54,000 and Rs 1.4 lakh. |
| LG Electronics is planning to sell about 2,000 units of the server in 2005 and will piggyback the sale of its PCs on its server sales. It is targeting selling 15 lakh GSM phones, 25 lakh CDMA phones and introduce 20 new models by the end of 2005. The company is aiming at clocking revenues of Rs 300 crore from sale of its handsets in 2004. |
| Currently, the split in revenues is 40 per cent from consumer electronics, 40 per cent from home appliances and the rest coming from IT and communication products. |
| "By 2007, the contribution from IT and communication will double to 40 per cent as this is among the fastest growing segments in India," Kim added. |
| Mulls Chennai facility |
| LG Electronics is mulling either setting up its own facility in Chennai or sub-contracting a part of its manufacturing work to OEMs in Tamil Nadu after the Union government introduces VAT in 2005. |
| "By 2005, we will clock revenues close to Rs 800 crore from Tamil Nadu. Since we will have to pay a tax even to move our own stock we will set up manufacturing facility here so that we can enjoy the tax benefits," Kim said. |
| He also stated that once VAT comes into effect, they maybe forced to make a direct investment and have operations in every major state that they are present in. |
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