Toshiba targets 5000 crore digital business sales in India by 2014-15

Japanese TV manufacturer, Toshiba has declared that it aims at Rs. 5,000 crore sales from its digital businesses in India by 2014-15. Further, it also plans to set up a TV manufacturing plant after reaching the target. The company presently has five group companies in India and targets to sell 20 lakh units of TVs and 10 lakh units of personal computers by March 2015.

Toshiba aims high

"I think it is mandatory to have our own factory in India to address the market, which has a huge potential to grow. Our own plant will also give us close association with customers' choice", said Shigenori Tokumitsu, Corporate Senior Vice President, Toshiba Corporation. He further said that the company will consider building a TV assembly plant in India after 2014. 

Toshiba has also introduced a range of 22 LED TV models in India as a part of the plan to achieve the new targets. These television sets are priced between 10,000 and 12,00,000. The company has roped in cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar as the brand ambassador. Reportedly, the company imports 90 percent of its TV panels from Indonesia, and the remaining are assembled in India via a contract manufacturing agreement with a local Indian firm.

"We have set a target to sell two million TVs and one million PCs with a total revenue of Rs 5,000 crore in India by 2014-05. We will consider about the TV facility only after that," Tokumitsu said, adding the company will continue to import its entire range of PCs for India in future.

According to him, the company also plans to shift its focus towards LEDs from LCDs. And with newer LED products, it wants to take the top spot in the LED TV market in India. Nevertheless, the company will continue to sell LCD TVs as consumers still prefer to go for such products, he added. During the 2011-12 period, Toshiba’s overall market share in the TV segment increased to 11.1 percent from 1.9 percent in the previous year. He also spoke about the PC segment, where the company is hoping to achieve a market share of 10 percent in this fiscal compared to 7.2 percent in the last fiscal with sales figures of 2 lakh units.

Yesterday, Toshiba launched its new ‘Thinking LED’ range of TV sets for the Indian market. The torch bearer of the new range is the RZ1, the first large-screen glasses-free 3D TV, powered by Toshiba’s high-performance multi-processor platform, the REGZA Engine Cevo Duo S. There are other exciting models with screen sizes ranging from 19 inches to 55 inches.

The RZ1 is a glasses-free 3D TV that delivers an immersive 3D TV experience and also displays 2D content at four times of (Quad) Full HD resolution. Powered by the REGZA Engine Cevo Duo S, RZ1’s Integral Imaging technology delivers nine parallax images that create multiple wide-angle viewing zones, and allows a large group of viewers, each facing the screen from a different angle, to share the 3D experience. It features a face tracking application to optimise and align the viewing zones of the TV with the viewers’ actual positions. A contrast ratio of 9,000,000:1 further improves the experience for the viewers.

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