Aviva Decor Ltd, the master dealer of Bang & Olufsen in Thailand, yesterday announced the opening of a new Bt20-million, 60-square-metre showroom on the second floor of the Siam Paragon shopping complex.

Claire Leong-Good, general manager for retail and marketing in the Asia-Pacific region, said the company aimed to increase the contribution from the region from 8 per cent of total revenue to between 12 and 15 per cent over the next three to five years.

"We achieved total sales of ¤38 million [Bt1.9 million] from the Asia-Pacific region last year. We expect to increase our revenues in this region by 5 per cent in this fiscal year ending May, and up to 20 per cent for the next fiscal year," said Leong-Good.

She said growth would be driven by the launch of new video products in Japan and Korea, as well as entering new emerging markets like Laos, Vietnam and the Philippines.

"We will enter the Vietnam market within the next three to six months with the first showroom opening at Ho Chi Min City. We expect to expand to the Philippines in the next 15-18 months," said Leong-Good.

She said that the company had six stores in major Chinese cities -Beijing, Guangzhou, Ching Tao, Harbin, and Shen Yang.

The company plans to have up to 15 stores in China, the biggest market in the region, by the end of 2007.

"We will focus on increasing brand penetration in the region, particularly in countries like China where the penetration is quite low," said Leong-Good.

She said the company had long enjoyed strong brand recognition in Europe, which is now saturated. In some markets such as Denmark, where it is based, the brand has enjoyed very strong penetration, as high as 80 per cent, and between 60-75 per cent in Germany and the UK.

For Asia however the penetration is at between 12 and 15 per cent on average. In Thailand it is between 10 and 12 per cent, and only 3-5 per cent in China.

"Asia-Pacific is the growth region we want to focus on," said Leong-Good, adding that the company had set up a new office in Singapore, which would be the regional hub for the region. About ¤400,000 has already been invested in the office in both hardware and software, including a staff training centre.

"We have 73 stores in nine markets in Asia-Pacific from China down to New Zealand. We expect to increase to 80 in the next financial year," she said.

Connie Charuvastr, managing director of Aviva Decor Ltd, said the company had been the master dealer for B&O audio-visual products in Thailand since 2000.

She said the outstanding characteristics of these electronic products, ranging from flat-screen televisions, speakers and portable audio devices, is the combination of design and technology.

"The products are quite similar to art pieces in the home. Seventy per cent of our customers are residential customers, while 30 per cent are commercial projects," said Charuvastr. She added that about 30 per cent of customers are foreigners who had bought second homes in local tourist destinations such as Phuket and Samui.

In addition to the new showroom at Siam Paragon complex, Aviva Decor Ltd has another showroom at All Season Place.

Kwanchai Rungfapaisarn

The Nation