The Hindu : Business : LG targets 40 p.c. jump in revenues

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jan 06, 2005

Business

Business

LG targets 40 p.c. jump in revenues

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, JAN. 5. LG Electronics plans to chase 40 per cent growth in turnover in 2005 to Rs. 9,000 crores from Rs. 6,500 crores recorded last year. And for this growth, LG Electronics India Ltd (LGEIL) is banking on the big potential of IT and telecom markets, particularly in the handset segment.

Unfolding the company's business plans for the current year during the launch of the Digi Direct TV, LG's DTH ready flat TV, K. R. Kim, Managing Director, LGEIL, and LG's President South West Asia, announced that the company would start rolling out the economy models of GSM mobile handsets from January 15 as it was expecting the category to grow at 10 per cent in 2005.

While LGEIL is also looking at exporting the lower-end GSM handsets to the Middle East and South Africa, it is confident that it will realise the target one-lakh units of Digi Direct TV by the end of 2005.

"We have introduced Digi Direct TV in two models — 21 and 29 inches. We have not firmed up the prices of these as yet but it should not be more than Rs. 2,500 from the existing colour TVs in the same category," said C. M. Singh, Product Group Head of Consumer Electronics for LGEIL.

Incidentally, LG Digi Direct TV is India's first Direct-to-Home ready TV, which has a built-in DTH decoder. The company has already entered into a tie-up with Doordarshan. The Digi Direct TV will be able to receive about 33 free-to-air (FTA) channels, including 17 DD channels and 12 Radio channels, including two FM channels.

Simultaneously, the company is targeting 40 million non-cable and satellite households in semi-urban areas where the cable and satellite TV penetration is still at a nascent stage.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Business