NATIONAL 3 -(Spotlight Weekly)

NEW PRODUCTS

LG In The Market

LG lauches some of its new batch of appliances in the market

By AKSHAY SHARMA

This year marks the 13th of LG's existence in Nepal as well as LG's highly productive association with the Chaudhary Group. With tremendous support from the Chaudhary Group, a leading industrial and business house of the country, LG has grown from strength to strength and is currently occupying a prominent position in the consumer durable and Information Technology market.

The previous year (1999-2000) has been a definite one for LG in Nepal. During this period the sales have surged by over 100 percent in all of LG's market segment i.e. Color TV, home appliances and IT ( computer monitors and CD-ROMs). LG's achievement in Nepal has been duplicated in other neighboring countries like Bangladesh and India , giving LG a commanding presence in the South Asian market.

"Every player in the market will say that they are number one. But we are proud to say we are the number one in television production. Our market growth last year was 300 percent. Life is good with LG," said Moon H Lee from the LG Electronics .

As part of continuous effort to provide customers with the best and the latest technology LG is introducing some new products in the Nepali market in the current year.

Door cooling refrigerators (4 model) have a unique system which allows cooling from the door compartments. The effective cooling rate is 45 percent higher than the conventional counterparts. Front loading washing machines which compared to the semi automatic and top loading variants offer significantly superior washing with less consumption of water and detergents.

Large capacity washing machines with 8 kg capacity can be useful for large households, joint families and commercial laundries. Similarly, Flatron Color TVs are available in various colours (Metallic gold, red and blue). The customers can choose the model to go with his interior decor. Economy models in 14" and 20" Color TV and mobile phone handsets are also available.

Said President and managing director of the Chaudhary Group, Binod K. Chaudhary, " By the year 2005 we are looking forward to providing every Nepali house with two of LG's products."

During the last few years consumer electronics technology has taken a leap. Digital know-how, which powered the computer revolution has found its way to television and other related industry. LG is at the forefront of this breakthrough with heavy investments in research for life like picture quality, better utilization of available channel bandwidth and development of interactive TV. In the home appliances segment the company has already developed futuristic products like the Internet refrigerator (which can sense food stock and if required place orders with neighborhood grocer) and microwave ovens which can download recipes from the internet.

This year LG's main area of focus is the home appliance sector. With over 20 models and 25 percent market share , LG is already the leader in the Nepal refrigerator market. LG intends to leverage on the concomitant brand and distribution strengths to promote the company's range of washing machines, microwave ovens and room air conditioners. In both the product categories LG is a major global player with strong market shares in the highly competitive markets of Europe and America.

The rapidly increasing importance of rural market has been another phenomenon of recent times. The spread of education, increasing prosperity and awareness has considerably stimulated demand in these areas. Developing these markets shall be a key thrust area this year. LG is shortly introducing two economy models of color TV targeted at this segment. The distribution and service network shall also be strengthened to meet the demands of this important segment.

The company also intends to reinforce its services in the country. With four authorized service centers in Katmandu, Pokhara, Biratnagar and Narayanghat, LG has already the widest service reach in the industry. LG plans to add six more service set ups during the year at Butwal, Birtamod, Janakpur, Nepalgunj, Dhangadhi and Mahendra Nagar making LG the most customer friendly company in the country. Apart from improving its reach, LG's strategy shall be geared to enhance service quality to global levels.