Philips Consumer Electronics is in talks with some leading Internet service providers in India for a strategic tie-up to launch the company's newly-developed `personal' or `intelligent' TV in the domestic market.
Personal TV, a joint product developed by Philips and TiVo, a Silicon Valley start-up, makes a personal profile of each viewer by analysing their viewing habits and programme preferences. It also automatically records their favourite programmes from the vast number offered by various channels.
Philips is also going in for a major expansion at its development centre in Pune to increase the company's television assembly capacity and to undertake indigenisation programmes for a slew of new products which the company is launching in the Indian market.
"We are planning to launch the personal TV in India some time later this year or early next year and, for this purpose, we are currently in the process of tying up with a service provider for content providing. We are talking to some of the service providers in India," Frans van Houten, executive vice-president, Asia Pacific, West Asia and Africa, Philips Consumer Electronics, said.
He, however, refused to name the ISPs with which Philips was holding talks. "Talks are still at an early stage and, therefore, it will be premature to disclose the names," Houten said.
The strategic tie up with ISPs is required to enable personal TV, consisting of a set-top box connected to a TV set, antenna and telephone jack, to provide additional and up-to-date information on a whole category and specific shows.
Houten said Philips would be making fresh investments for the expansion plans at Pune. He, however, refused to divulge details about the exact investment the electronics major was planning.
He said along with the capacity expansion and new product launches, Philips India would undertake a major marketing drive which would be aimed at changing the company's image from a manufacturer of low-prized products to a superior technology product company.
Towards this end, the company is planning a two-pronged strategy _ launching new products for the high-end segment and targeting the `digital youth' for its array of digital products both in the audio and video segments.
Real flat widescreen TV (36" and 42"), super audio CD and digital video disc recorders are among the new products slated to be launched in India.
"Under our new market development programme in Asia Pacific, India is targeted to emerge in the top three regional markets in most consumer electronics categories by 2005," Houten said, adding that Philips India's new operational and marketing strategy would be in tandem with this aim.
On the corporate side, Philips India is planning to offer the voluntary retirement scheme to its employees. This is in line with its plan of making the company `leaner and younger'. Houten, however, said the specifics on the manpower downsizing would be decided by the management of the Indian subsidiary.
