LG aims to grow smartphone market share to 10% by next year

An enhanced product portfolio is a natural extension to it, he quickly adds. And given the exploding tablet market, the company is keen not to miss out on the goldmine of opportunity and gearing up for its first tablet soon. He tells Beryl Menezes the significance of smartphones for LG in India and how they are expected to shape its consumer landscape next year.

A smartphone war has begun in the Indian market with cut-throat pricing and EMI offers. How does LG plan to compete with market leaders?
LG also has EMI offers on handsets priced above Rs 10,000. This includes a 0% finance scheme, which is down payment-free, processing fees-free and interest-free. The offer is valid on credit card purchase and consumers can choose to split their purchase between three or six EMIs.

Pushing up the competition a notch further, telcos have also begun offering their branded handsets, with bundled data offers. Does LG have any similar plans?
From time to time, operator data packages are bundled with LG smartphones and it shall continue in future as well.

What percentage of overall revenues of the consumer business does the mobile business contribute?
Mobile is strategic business for LG. Right now, the contribution is marginal, but in future, we intend to increase it and attain a double digit market share by the end of 2014.

Is the mobile business or PC business doing better for LG? Which of these are you pushing more strongly?
LG Optimus G & L series phones are doing well. We have recently launched Nexus 4. As of now, LG is not in tablet business, but we intend to get into it soon.

What is your sales target for handsets in 2014 and what is your strategy to fulfill it?
We aim to capture 10% market share by the end of 2014. Our strategy includes retail expansion and exhaustive distribution channel. Apart from this, strengthening our product portfolio is crucial. We would introduce phones across price ranges, from entry level to high-end smartphone.

Any plans to set up experience stores, on the likes of other handset vendors?
Many of the LG Exclusive Stores (LG Brand Shops) already have Mobile Specific Live Experience Zones. Live Experience zones at Multi Brand Stores are also something which we believe constantly investing in.