Yamaha aims at larger share of home theatre market

Yamaha Electronics Asia Pte Ltd aims at a greater share of the home theatre systems market in the country. About 40 per cent of the company's annual $15 million sales from Asia Pacific are accounted from India.

Launching the new Yamaha Sound Projector system in Ahmedabad, J S Bhatty, managing director of Savoy Electronics Pvt Ltd, distributors of Yamaha Electronics in India, said, "Last year, our sales stood at $ 4 million in India, but the encouraging aspect is that this has been growing at over 40 per cent in the past two years compared with a growth of less than 20 per cent in the preceding years."

Bhatty, however, said that one roadblock in the growth of home theatres from Yamaha (which are manufactured in Malaysia) is that its high pricing.

"There is a 38 per cent import duty and an additional entry tax of 20 per cent. This is being rationalised, but until then, the pricing will be high," he said.

The Yamaha sound projector is priced at Rs 95,000.

The product, which is packed with 42 drive units (speakers and woofers) in just one box, is 52-inch wide and can be fitted just below a 52-inch plasma television. It has a technology that offers surround sound from a single component and eliminates the burden of wires being attached to several speakers like the conventional home theatre system.

"We have already sold over 2,000 units of the sound projector in Japan and over 5,000 units in the US and Europe, where this product was launched about eight months ago. The company is at present rolling out the product in India and other Asian countries," said Dedy Wijaya, sales executive, Yamaha Electronics Asia Pte Ltd.

Sound projector launched

The Yamaha Sound Projector was launched at Theatres 4 U, a showroom at Ahmedabad on Thursday.

Savoy Electronics Pvt Ltd, said that more dealers will be appointed in Ahmedabad and Gujarat over the next few months.

"We will appoint a couple of more dealers in Ahmedabad and other parts of the state," said Bhatty.

Abhor Patel, director, of Theatres 4 U showroom, said that with the growth of plasma televisions, and with more and more people looking for purchasing high end audio systems, he expects several Yamaha electronics products to sell well.

"The range of products available at the showroom is from Rs 20,000 to about Rs ten lakh," Patel said. Patel has installed the sound systems of half a dozen multiplexes in Ahmedabad, Patan and Rajkot.