The Hindu : Business : Samsung to set up unit in Gurgaon

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Dec 10, 2005

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Business

Samsung to set up unit in Gurgaon

Special Correspondent

To produce 10 lakh handsets initially with an investment of $15 m

MANUFACTURING FORAY: Suk Ha, Oh, President and CEO, South West Asia, Samsung (left), and H. C. Ryu, Director, Telecom-Samsung India (centre) presenting a memonto to P. K. Chaudhery, Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary to Haryana Government (right), during the launch of new advanced handsets in New Delhi on Friday. — Photo: Shanker Chakravarty

NEW DELHI: Korean major Samsung on Friday announced plans to set up a handset manufacturing facility in Gurgaon, Haryana. This will be the company's fourth handset manufacturing unit outside Korea after China, Brazil and Mexico.

To be set up with an investment of $15 million, the facility will have an initial capacity of 10 lakh units annually, which will be increased gradually to two crore by 2010. "We plan to make this facility the manufacturing hub for Southwest Asia,'' said Samsung India (Telecom) Director H. C. Ryu. "It will help us respond faster to the market and the needs of the Indian customers, go in for greater product customisation and be in a position to fully tap the potential of the Indian mobile market,'' he said.

To customise models

The company will manufacture a few GSM handset models from its forthcoming 2006 line up while the balance will be imported. Samsung will also customise the models with the help of its R & D centre in Bangalore. The company will invest $10 million initially and will employ about 200 people in this highly advanced, automated plant.

About 90 per cent of Samsung's handset sales this year will come from the colour and camera phone segment and the company plans to bank on this segment. On the occasion, the company launched three handsets priced at Rs. 14,699, Rs. 8,599 and Rs. 24,000. This takes the range of handsets in the Indian market to 18 with prices starting from Rs. 3,199.

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