The South Korean tech giant LG has announced its plans to debut with the production of smartphones in India as soon as it manages to acquire a market share of 10 percent in the country. The firm expects this to happen by the end of this year with all its hopes on the LG G4 smartphone.
The firm is planning to invest Rs 1,000 crore (apporx. $157.4 million) on Research & Development and marketing in India this year. As per Gfk, a market research company, LG’s current market share is less than 5 percent in India. The recent flagship smartphone LG G4 was launched in the last week for Rs 51,000 (approx. $802). This device is expected to become a best seller in the market.
Also, Soon Kwon, the Managing Director of LG India claimed that the firm is hoping to sell 100,000 units of the G4 smartphone in India in the next three months. The firm is in plans to add 20 more handsets to its existing portfolio at different price points by the end of this year as it will help the firm achieve a market share of 10 percent.
If LG opens it’s R&D and manufacturing operations in India, the firm will be in line with the global competitors such as Motorola, Xiaomi and Asus and the native vendors such as Micromax, Karbonn and Lava as these firms have already invested in the process of manufacturing in India.
As of now, LG is selling eight LTE enabled smartphones in the country making the firm the largest single LTE device provider in the market. Though other vendors have competitively priced LTE smartphones, LG has a wide range of such smartphones enabling it to capture the intensifying LTE market.
LG G4 is an impressively specced smartphone with a Snapdragon 808 chipset, but it is major downside is its hefty price tag. Both Samsung Galaxy S6 and Apple iPhone 6 are priced relatively cheaper than the LG G4.
