LG Electronics sets ambitious sales target for mobile division at Rs 2,500 cr

Company to focus on speedy product launches as it aims to double market share

Noting the potential of India’s smart phone market possess, LG Electronics has decided to tweak its strategy a bit and has tripled its sales target for its mobile division in the country to Rs 2,500 crore in 2014.

The South Korean electronics company has also decided to increase the frequency of new product launches in India, which it believes would help enhance its market share in the smartphone segment.

“The most important part of our strategy (for India) is to bring in products which we can claim that it has the ultimate technology,” Soon Kwon, managing director of LG Electronics India, told Business Standard.

“We also plan to have some speedy launches of products in this market. In the next six months, we will see another 8-10 mobiles getting launched for this market, which will help us double our market share (in the mobile phone segment) in India,” Kwon added.

The company, whose sales target for India in 2013 stood at Rs 800 crore, currently has a market share of five per cent in the mobile space in the country which it intends to take to 10 per cent by December 2014.

Since the beginning of 2014, the firm has launched 15 mobiles in the Indian market at various price points. As part of its strategy, LG Electronics on Monday launched LG G3 smart phone priced at Rs 47,990-50,990, which will be available in three colours.

“We are mainly in the premium customer category space and we intend to be in this space going ahead. There are no plans to have products, which are sub-$100 or sub-$200 for the India market,” said Kwon.

Speaking about innovation and promotion of its products in India that face stiff competition from players such as Samsung and Micromax, Kwon said LG Electronics would spend a total of Rs 700-800 crore only on research and development for overall India market and another Rs 800 crore on promotion of all its electronic gadgets.

Although Kwon did not throw much light on the investments made towards the LG G3 smart phone, he said the company has put in a lot of resources as well as money into the product, which is expected to be a game changer for the company in the mobile space.

G3 comes with features such as a 5.5-inch quad-HD display with 538 ppi (pixel per inch). LG will also release 15,000 limited-edition handsets bearing the signature of Amitabh Bachchan.

The variant of LG G3, the LG G3 Beat is also expected to be launched in the current quarter. However, the price point for the same is yet to be decided, said Kwon.

The company said although its product, G3, will be available across India, it has no plan to get itself on the e-commerce platform for better reach. “We are available pan-India, and will make use of our outlets to cater to the customers. We are hopeful that by the end of 2014, we will see good demand for all our LG products in the India market,” Kwon added.

LG Electronics’ products include televisions, home theatre systems, refrigerators, washing machine, computer monitors, and smartphones, among others.