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Korean consumer electronics major LG India on Wednesday said it will continue to focus on its ‘Make-in-India’ strategy, as it aims to increase its market share in the TV segment this year with the launch of the new range of its AI ThinkQ TVs.
The new range comes with built-in Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and Apple Airplay2 capabilities.
The company believes this will enable it to increase its overall market share to 27 per cent in the TV segment by the end of this year from the current 25 per cent. The consumer durable industry has been urging the government to reduce the customs duty on open cell television panels from 5 per cent to nil. However, the anticipated announcement did not come through in the budget.
Replying to a query, Younchul Park, Director-Home Entertainment, LG Electronics India said: “As a strategy, LG has been focussing on “Make in India” and have been investing in our manufacturing capacities in the country. However, it is very important that there is no demerit or disadvantage of manufacturing in India.” He added that reduction of custom duty on open cell TV panels from 5 per cent to zero is an important demand of the industry.
Park also pointed out that unlike LG which has been focussed on manufacturing TVs in India, other brands are importing TVs from Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand at zero duty through the FTA route.
Asked if the company will rethink its manufacturing strategy, Park said: “As of now, we are not doing any such rethink. We will continue to make in India as we focus on the needs of the Indian customers first and offer them value and best technology products.”
Meanwhile, the company said that its new AI ThinkQ TV range starts from ₹24,990 (for 32 inches) and goes upto ₹10,99,990 (for 77 inches). The range includes various models under Smart TVs, UHD TVs, LED TVs, NanoCell TVs and OLED TVs.
Park said: “With this built-in technology, users of LG televisions will be able to do much more than simply watching TV like reading news updates or ordering food...so essentially, they can control their surroundings in a much easier and efficient way. We believe this will enhance the home entertainment experience of both our existing and future consumers.”
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