Samsung India eyes 50% LCD market

Samsung India would begin production of LCD sets by the end of June at its Noida facility near New Delhi.

Samsung India Electronics aims to capture 50 per cent of the liquid crystal display (LCD) market share by volume in 2006 as it starts to assemble television sets in India, a company official said on Tuesday.

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Samsung expects to capture half the domestic LCD market, which is expected to grow to 200,000 units by the end of this year, Ravinder Zutshi, deputy managing director, Samsung India, said.

The company, which is an arm of South Korea's Samsung Electronics, had a 33 percent share of the 30,000-unit Indian LCD market in 2005.

Samsung India would begin production of LCD sets by the end of June at its Noida facility near New Delhi, he said.

"Initially, we plan to produce about 5,000 units per month," Zutshi said, "Within 2-3 months we will be able to go over 5,000."

He declined to specify the investment in the new line, but said it fell under the company's $20-million investment plan, which is mainly for line expansions.

Samsung India makes colour televisions, monitors, refrigerators, washing machines and air coolers at its Noida plant.

Samsung and LG Electronics dominate the Indian home appliances market accounting for more than 40 percent of the fast-growing colour television, washing machine and refrigerator segments.