The Hindu Business Line : Thin is in

With price erosion being widespread in the flat panel television industry, there has emerged a need to find new ways to secure stable revenue streams for manufacturers. Creating a premium segment seems to partly be the answer from a brand portfolio standpoint, with different players taking different approaches to positioning themselves in the market. Incidentally, the premium segment products are more inflation-proof due to lower price elasticity of demand.

For the Japanese TV maker, Hitachi, the ‘premium segment’ is the ultra thin category – a category which it believes will most definitely emerge as the future of flat panel design with multiple technologies competing in the space. Hitachi which has positioned itself as a niche brand, targets the aesthetically and technologically discerning individual who has an eye for minimalist design.

In tune with the group motto ‘Inspire the Next,’ Hitachi focuses on technologies that aim to make life in the future easier. It believes a television must complement the personality of an individual, rather than stand out and scream for attention. “Ultra thinness achieves this by helping televisions become inconspicuous yet elegant,” says Tarun Jain, Country Head (India), Hitachi Home Electronics Asia. “For example, if an ultra thin television is mounted on a wall, it will look like it is a part of the wall, thus integrating with the overall ambience,” he adds.

Elaborating on its brand building efforts for the ultra thin space, Jain says that Hitachi is aligning its business strategy, product portfolio and marketing strategy to ensure that it strengthens and reinforces its position as a premium player by addressing the needs of customers who seek individualisation in product design. “The business strategy will focus on identifying high value-added product lines, which are less vulnerable to price competition. Product portfolio will focus on continually introducing aesthetically as well as technologically enhanced ultra thin technologies.”

Undeterred by the increasing competition in the LCD market, Hitachi is confident its product will sell itself, it being the world’s first ultra thin LCD TV, coupled with the trademark quality of Hitachi products manufactured in Japan. The ultra thin LCDs are described as power-saving and environment-friendly.

Hitachi retails its products through a mix of exclusive Hitachi brand outlets, premium individual multi-brand retailers in different cities and organised retail chains across the country. “The film clubs that it plans to activate along with Palador Pictures Pvt Ltd will help it reach out to a premium audience across cities in a manner that highlights one of the strengths of the products – brilliant cinematic experience,” adds Jain.

Asking about initial responses, he says that the first stage of concept acceptance is critical. “At the sales level, the prospects seem encouraging as the ultra thin concept has been eliciting a positive response so far. “

Hitachi has been constantly innovating, both on the product as well as the promotion aspect. Last year for instance Hitachi offered customers an option of transforming their plasma/LCD televisions into pieces of art by providing them HD images of two eminent artists which could be displayed on the TV screens. The HD renditions of paintings were stored on discs and displayed through a DVD player. It also offered a premium quality frame so that the TV actually looked like an actual painting when the HD images were displayed on the screen.

The brand’s core challenges with regards to the ultra thin category lies in the way it targets the premium segment – which has tricky ‘group dynamics.’ It is a segment which is much less scattered and is more connected internally as compared to a more mass audience. “Identifying the attributes of changing group behaviour in this segment and designing marketing programmes that continually strike the right chord is a key and ongoing challenge,” he notes.

Hitachi seeks to address this issue through market research and by allying with partners who understand this segment. Its focus over the coming years is going to be on India and China as it considers these the biggest markets in terms of growth rate.

Technology experts predict Full HD, which offers over six times more sharpness and clarity as compared to standard televisions today, is going to be the flavour of the season in flat panels. However, Hitachi believes Full HD packed into an ultra thin body will be emerge as TV connoisseurs’ craze very soon. Hitachi trusts that over time, ultra thin technologies will become increasingly popular, just as flat panel technologies are becoming more popular than cathode ray tube technology. Today, all technologies – plasma, LCD, OLED - have an equal probability of winning the ‘ultra thin’ battle. Will the ultra thin category emerge as the ‘uber cool’ segment within the flat panel category? Watch this space … screen.

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