LG Electronics announces prike hike on computer LCD monitors, optical stirage devices

Mumbai: The Korean electronics giant's Indian subsidiary, LG Electronics India Pvt Ltd, today said it was raising prices of LCD monitors and optical storage devices due to the constant escalation of input costs.

The price hike will raise prices by between 7 per cent  and 10 per cent.  However, to soft pedal the rise LG says it will raise the prices in a phased manner, starting with 3 per cent  with immediate effect.  

The company says as the customs duty is based on the MRP, the dollar appreciation is further compounded by a proportionate increase in duty owing to the  increased MRP. Thus, for LCD monitors the impact will be a combined effect of dollar appreciation, proportionate duty increase and the increase in the panel price.  

''It has become imperative for us to consider a price hike due to rise in exchange rate, which has gone up significantly in the last one month," said R Manikandan, business group head for monitors and optical storage devices. "From sub-40 range in the last week of April, the exchange rate has gone up to 42.5 as on 29 May, or approximatley a 7 per cent  rise in the exchange rate over the last one month , resulting in increased costing,  calling for increase in market prices.''
 
As the dollar projections are looking stronger in the short run, the overall prices will have to go upwards steadily, the most vulnerable being the LCD owing to compounded effect.

LG Electronics India Pvt. Ltd was established in January 1997 and reported a turnover of Rs9,500 crore in 2007. It has plants at Noida, which the company says is the most eco-friendly units among all LG manufacturing plants in the world; and at Ranjangaon near Pune to manufacture GSM phones, colour televisions, air conditioners, LCD TVs, washing machine, refrigerators and optical disc drives and is India's first mobile phone manufacturing unit and also Asia's largest optical disc drive manufacturing facility.