Indiantelevision.com Team

(22 November 2007 5:30 pm)

NEW DELHI: Hitachi India has announced its impending launch of the ultra-slick TV sets and said it would capture 10 per cent of the country's LCD and 20 per cent of the Plasma TV market next year.

Hitachi will pump in in Rs 150 million for promotion and education of customers and sellers.

According to Hitachi Home Electronics country head Tarun Jain, the focus for the coming year would be three-fold: path breaking technology, brand building and focussed entry into the tier II cities, where there is a growing demand from the hi-end consumer.

Unfortunately, Jain revealed, most customers - and even sellers - are not aware of the true differences between Plasma and LCD technology. The differentiaton that takes place is only at the price level so far as the new buyer is concerned.

This obviously is hurting the company as its hi-end products are losing grounds on being costlier, for the customer is not being explained the benefits of that extra cost in terms of viewing experience.

Hence, the company will spend Rs 150 million on brand communication, especially on educating dealers' training programmes.

It will also go for a 65 per cent increase in its exclusive galleries - which it calls Hitachi Experience Zone - and 35 per cent increase in its own service outlets.

Hitachi says it has gone for innovative brand image building and that is why it became a partner of the Lakme Fashion week, to stress on its image of stylish design, which is associated with a fashion fest.

It has also made a tremendous effort during the last Cricket World Cup in registering its brand in the consumers' minds, Jain said.

"There has been a 200 per cent sales growth over the same period last year," Jain asserted.

Though Jain did not reveal the price of the two ultra-thin models, he did say that the models would enter the Indian market in the first quarter of 2008.