LG to set up 100 IT retail outlets, to storm home PC market

Venkatachari Jagannathan
13 March 2003

Chennai: LG Electronics, the Korean consumer electronics major, has plans to have 100 exclusive retail outlets in India to sell its computers and accessories. All the outlets will be franchisee-owned, confirming to the design specifications laid down by LG Electronics.

“We will support the franchisees in branding, décor and other aspects,“ says LG Electronics deputy general manager (sales and marketing - IT products) R Manikandan.

Manufacturing and selling monitors and optical storage devices (CD-ROM drive, CD Re-writers, DVD ROM, DVD RAM and Combo drives) for quite some time, LG Electronics entered the home personal computer segment in a small way with its PC brand priced at Rs 35,000.

“We wanted to have a nationwide sales and service network before expanding the PC business so that our consumer does not find any problem in after-sales service which would have resulted in earning a bad name. The exclusive retail outlets for IT products are being set up for this reason,“ says Manikandan.

LG Electronics is the market leader in optical storage devices with a market share of 51 per cent while in the monitor segment it enjoys a share of 28 per cent. Its IT products contribute around Rs 364 crore of the company's Rs 3,315-crore turnover. The company expects a turnover of Rs 500 crore this year from the IT peripheral business.

The company, in the meantime, has launched the 30-inch Flatron liquid crystal display (LCD) monitor — the world's largest. Priced at Rs 2.47 lakh, LG Electronics hopes to sell around 300 units during the first six months. “This is a product for corporates and other institutions like stock exchanges where display monitors play an important role,“ says Manikandan.