LG targets to sell 2,000 plasma TVs this year
Zakki P. Hakim, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
With a new production line for flat panel televisions with plasma technology on the horizon, consumer electronics producer PT LG Electronics Indonesia (LGEIN) has targeted to increase its plasma TV sales tenfold to 2,000 units, or about a third of 2005's estimated total market for the premium TV.
LGEIN, a local unit of South Korean firm LG Electronics Inc., expects to start producing the exclusive plasma TVs in its factory in Legok, Tangerang regency, Banten, (about 50 kilometers west of Jakarta) in the third quarter of this year, said LGEIN president director Kee Ju-lee.
"We will be producing plasma TVs in our new production line here, probably in the third quarter," Kee told The Jakarta Post recently.
He said that at the moment sales would be targeted more at the commercial market, such as shopping malls, hotels and office buildings, rather than individual customers.
Separately, LGEIN general and sales manager Sung Khiun said that this year's plasma TV market in the country was estimated to reach 6,000 units and the new production line was expected to support the firm's target sales of 2,000 units.
"Last year, the market size was only between 2,000 and 3,000 units, and LGEIN's share was only 10 percent of the market at that time," Sung told the Post over the weekend.
He said that the new production line would allow LGEIN to cut plasma TV prices faster than its competitors.
Around the world, product prices have declined steadily since last year. For example, a 42-inch plasma TV was sold at around US$5,000 in Indonesia early last year, while today the average price is no more than $4,000, he explained.
He, however, expected LG plasma TV prices here to go down as far as $3,000 by the end of this year.
"We aim at taking a leading position in the category," he said, adding that the firm would focus more on producing and selling 42-inch plasma TVs, which are the most popular here.
Global demand for plasma TVs alone is estimated to expand to 12 million units by 2007 from this year's 3.5 million. Consequently, LG needs to establish more production bases to meet the growing demand.
Sung, however, dismissed the notion that Indonesia would be a plasma TV production base for Southeast Asia. Last year, LG Electronics Inc. revealed that its headquarters in Seoul would need to assess domestic market performance, before deciding on Indonesia as a regional production base.
Plasma TV sales are expected to help LGEIN reach its sales target of $450 million this year, or up 42 percent from last year's achievement.