New Delhi, May 3: Having finally turned the corner with maiden profit, Japanese electronics giant Matsushita's Television and audio products business is eyeing double turnover via new product launches besides hiked marketing spend this year. Matsushita TV and Audio India Ltd (MTAIC), a joint venture between Matsushita and Jiwarajka group's Salora International, has posted Rs 27 lakh profit for 1999-2000 at Rs 144.6 crore and is targeting the top multinational electronics company slot by 2002, a senior MTAIC official said here on Wednesday."We have taken three years to break even in India, but from now on we plan to get aggressive in the market and target 100 per cent growth this year," MTAIC managing director Y Ozasa said. The company was planning to launch 14 new models each of colour televisions and audio products this year.
"Inclusive in the 14" new television launches are two digital models slated for September launch," Ozasa said adding the company is targeting 5 per cent CTV market share with sales target for 2000-01 at 2.4 lakh units.
"We will also launch the unique 15-inch model of colour television by August in India," he said. The Matushita group operates via eight companies in India, of which seven are manufacturing companies and National Panasonic India (NPI) is the marketing and sales company.
Ozasa said the company was targeting a 10 per cent share of the `mini-compo' market this year with 30,000 unit sales against 3 per cent share last fiscal "and we plan to hike production of audio units (total) to 1.1 lakh units this year".
Explaining the role of Matsushita's marketing company National Panasonic India, Ozasa said this company was also targeting 100 per cent growth this year with Rs 555 crore turnover target. "We underestimated the complexity of the Indian CTV market. While worldwide picture quality is the most important criterion, in India it was sound quality," Ozasa said.
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