LG Thailand seeks Bt2 bn for expansion

Managing director Hyun Woo Lee said yesterday the funds would be used for upgrading the Rayong factory and for marketing next year.

The company is eyeing new overseas markets, particularly the Middle East and South Africa, to offset the current slump in orders.

"Though the economy is in a downturn, we won't cut our marketing activities next year because Thailand has got less of an impact than other countries. We also plan to increase overall production capacity of our TV sets by 7 to 10 per cent," Lee said.

With the scheme, the company will spend US$5 million (Bt176 million) to mainly expand the production capacity of its LCD and plasma TVs from the current 100,000 units per year to 130,000 units to serve growing domestic demand.

Conventional colour TV sets, or CRT TVs, will be cut to 60,000 sets per month from 70,000 at present.

Deputy managing director Alongkorn Chujit said demand for conventional colour TVs had gradually declined in the past few years. The overall demand for conventional TVs this year is expected to be about 2.5 million units, on a par with last year.

Due to the price of LCD TVs continuing to fall, consumers are turning away from conventional TVs.

"The price of LCD TVs in January was about 20 per cent different from those available in the market at present. We can buy a 32" LCD TV model at only Bt19,000 today, compared to Bt25,900-Bt27,900 in early January. The price is expected to decline by 15 to 20 per cent next year. Now, LCD TVs available in Thailand are the cheapest in the world," he said.

Lee expects market demand for LCD TVs in the Kingdom will continue to grow by 30 per cent to 650,000 units next year.

Sales of LCD TVs with Full HD (high definition) will rise to 40 per cent of the total LCD TV market, up from 10 per cent at present, as the price gap between ordinary LCD and Full HD LCD TVs is only 15 to 20 per cent, he said. And that will narrow to only 5 to 10 per cent soon.

With the huge market opportunity, the company is introducing 13 plasma and LCD TVs this quarter, half of them Full HD models.It is spending Bt20 million on its new marketing campaign called "LG Full HD World, Full Enjoyment".

With the campaign, 24 sets of TVs, home-theatre sets and Blu-ray disc players are combined to sell at a special discount of up to 35 per cent.