In an attempt to tap the growing market for lifestyle products, the Videocon group plans to come out with laptop computers, mobile phones and gaming solutions by the last quarter of 2008.
"We see a great opportunity in laptops, high-end mobile phones and the gaming industry," Sunil Mehta, director (sales and manufacturing), Videocon Industries, told Business Standard.
The company will make these products on its own and retail them under its flagship brand, Videocon. The new product lines will give Videocon Industries an additional turnover of Rs 1,400 crore (Rs 14 billion) within one year and, experts said, will give the brand a younger profile.
The move could also be a spreading of risks by the consumer electronics group in view of the growing competition from Korean giants LG and Samsung in the last few years as well as a possible slowdown in the sector.
Statistics put out by the government and various industry associations suggest that while consumer electronics sales have stagnated, sale of lifestyle products has risen sharply. The laptop computer market in India, for instance, grew a whopping 84.8 per cent in the third quarter of 2007.
The company plans to roll out PDA format mobile phones to start with and focus only on the high end of the market. "We are not looking at a product for the masses hence we will concentrate only on PDA handsets as of now," Mehta said.
The company is also keen on entering the gaming market. "We are looking at providing a gaming solution by including it in our televisions and home theatre systems. We are also looking at developing consoles for the same," Mehta added. The gaming market in India, according to Nasscom, is likely to grow from Rs 192 crore (Rs 1.92 billion) in 2006 to over Rs 1,700 crore (Rs 17 billion) by 2010.
The company is also planning to roll out a 32" plasma TV by March 2008 to consolidate its market share in the flat panel display category. LG is the only other player offering a 32" plasma television in its portfolio.
