We are investing in design differentiation, says Amit Gujral, head of marketing, LG Electronics India Pvt Ltd

LG has been facing stiff competition at both ends – budget and premium – of the cell phone market, what is your strategy for countering it?

Competition in this market has always been there. We have enjoyed number one market in this country, way back in the CDMA days. In any journey, there are lots of deeds, learnings and misdeeds. Today, we are using the Make in India initiative and investing money in lifestyle research (LSR). LSR is where you go back to the consumers and try to understand what they are looking for in what they use. How do they perceive things? This is step one. Ultimately, whichever the brand, its acceptance or rejection lies with the consumers. We are betting big on differentiated design. Today, everyone wants to carry a nice looking phone, and every phone using Android. How do you differentiate? Investment made in design differentiation is the first thing. The second thing we are talking about is that people really have a fancy about their camera. Now, we have brought the best of cameras at an attractive price. Lot of R&D and hard work went into it. The third thing is 4G. Now, how many of them have used or experienced it? We really don't know, but everyone aspires to have 4G. So, here comes the solution our K series has provided. Whether you have 4G today or tomorrow, LG device is ready for it. It's a big differentiator.

All LG handsets will be 4G-enabled?

All my phones will be 4G-enabled for now onwards.

You seem to be lagging in the budget segment with the China's Xiaomi giving you a tough competition?

Not really. It's a kind of perception being built about us because people have heard us or perceived us only launching premium devices. That is not the case. We had phones in the past in the Rs 6,000 to Rs 8,000 price range. We had and we will have phones across all price-points, but with a difference.

How many more devices are you planning to place in the market this year?

We will bring in 6-8 new devices across price tiers within just five months.

Is there any particular segment that you would be focusing on?

India actually offers you the opportunity to play in all segments because of its huge potential. If you look at the pie, the biggest segment is sub-Rs 25,000, but there is a healthy segment even at Rs 40,000-plus price point. So, there is an entire gamut of spectrum available for us to play in. We have devices across price tiers.

You may have devices across all segments but is there any particular segment that you will focus on this year?

We would love to go back to the consumers with what we have learned from them and offer them as a differentiator across segments.

How is having cell phone manufacturing in India going to benefit you? How does it impact your margins?

Yes, there is a benefit of around 8.5-9% as we speak. We can't speak of tomorrow. It will help us improve our margins.

Is the gain being absorbed into your margin or is it being passed on to the consumers?

It is for the people of India, by the people of India.

What is manufacturing capacity and do you see India becoming a global production hub for LG mobile phones?

We will have minimum one million phones rolling out from this initiative (manufacturing plant in Noida) as soon as possible. It all depends on market demand. We can scale it up to any level because we don't have to learn. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for exports. We export white goods from here. You never know that the same trend may start for phones as well.