Thomson re-enters Indian consumer electronics, durables market

Brand licensee Resolute to invest Rs 300 crore in Thomson's production plant in Hyderabad

Thomson, a mass-market brand of the over $3.6-billion French media technology conglomerate Technicolor, today announced that it would re-enter the Indian consumer electronics and durables market with the roll-out of Thomson's first LED TV range in the country by the end of this month.

Technicolor, which sells set-top-boxes to major direct-to-home players like TataSky under its 120-year-old Thomson brand, had entered the Indian CRT television market in 2000. The company, however, ceased its television sales operations in the country in 2005 as a part of its 'business strategy'.

"We will continue to build the Thomson brand more strongly with the help of local partners. The $12.5-billion Indian consumer electronics and durables market grew at a compound annual growth rate of 10.5 per cent during 2005 and 2014. The market is evolving with new products and is poised to touch $20 billion by 2020. We believe that we are coming back at the right time," Manuele Wahl, senior vice-president of Technicolor, said on Tuesday.

 

Thomson has roped in Resolute Electronics Private Limited, a Hyderabad-based electronics manufacturing services company, as its exclusive brand licensee.

Resolute will invest around Rs 300 crore to add dedicated lines at its facility in Hyderabad and churn out Thomson LED, smart and ultra-high-resolution TVs, large home appliances like air-conditioners, washing machines and refrigerators and small home appliances such as air fryers over the next two years. It has also earmarked Rs 50 crore for above-the-line and below-the-line activities in the next three years.

According to A Gopala Krishna, chief executive officer of Resolute, the company's Hyderabad facility currently has the capacity to manufacture 2,000 TVs per day. It will add lines to produce 250 ACs, 500 washing machines and 300 refrigerators per day within the next six months, he said.

"We are going to move up the Thomson brand value perception, particularly in the category leader - LED TVs," Krishna said, adding that the company was expecting to garner one per cent market share in the first year of launch and eventually corner the market with five per cent in the third year.

Thomson will initially take the ecommerce route to sell its products and is in the process of tying up with Flipkart for the same. The company will open 500 physical stores across the country at the end of the first year of operations, he said.