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Strategies & Market Trends : China Warehouse- More Than Crockery -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: RealMuLan who wrote (4434)	2/21/2005 12:41:59 AM
From: RealMuLan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6370

Haier eyes 'Made in India' label with new plant February 21, 2005 China's Haier Group is ready to wear the "Made in India'' label. The US$12.1 billion (HK$94.38 billion) global consumer goods company plans to set up a factory in India this year to manufacture color televisions and will gradually expand the facility to produce a full range of home appliances for both the Indian and export markets. "Our gradual launch into assembly facilities will be converted into comprehensive and complete manufacturing in two to three years,'' said TK Banerjee, chief executive officer of Haier Appliances (India), a fully-owned subsidiary of Haier Group. Haier is currently assembling about 20,000 televisions a month in India under contracts with Indian companies. ``Hopefully, by May or June, we will finalize a location for our television plant,'' Banerjee said. ``Our objective is to make 50,000 televisions a month by the end of this year.'' Haier, which launched operations in India last year with its imported products such as air conditioners, refrigerators, microwave ovens and televisions, will eventually start exporting home appliances made at its Indian facility. ``Our strategic imperative is to make India the hub for South Asia, Middle East and African countries,'' Banerjee said. Although Haier is a major global home appliances company, its market share in India's US$4 billion consumer goods market is very small due to its late entry. Analysts said it make take years for Haier to make its presence felt in India and compete with South Korea's Samsung and LG Electronics, which dominate the market. Haier is expecting a revenue of about three billion rupees (HK$534 million) from its first year of operations in India. ``We have arrived at a steady business of 250 million rupees a month from the sales of our assembled televisions and other appliances that are currently being imported,'' Banerjee said. Haier expects a 60 percent growth in the consumer durables market in India this year and plans a number of new product launches. This month, it began selling a range of mobile phones to tap the country's growing demand for mobile telecommunications. Banerjee said he expects Haier to sell 500,000 mobile phones in India over the next 12 months. ``We would like to keep bombarding the market every three to six months with new products so that the consumer stays excited,'' he said. DOW JONES NEWSWIRES thestandard.com.hk