LG to Expand Indian Handset Factory Capacity

South Korea's LG Electronics is planning to increase its handset production in India with an eye to increasing its exports to the European and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) markets. No details of the timescale for the investment was outlined though.

"We are planning to expand our manufacturing facility in India to increase the export of handsets. In the near future, the firm will be exporting mobile phones to European countries and CIS," LG's Vice President/Regional Business Leader (Asia Pacific Region), Bo H Choi told reporters at a trade fair, adding that "we are not in a position to disclose details about capital infusion,"

Last August, LG India MD Moon B Shin had said that the Indian factory would be upgraded over the next few years to produce 10 million units per year. Currently the factory has an output of 2 million units per annum. It is not clear at the moment if the new announcement is a confirmation of that earlier plan, or an additional increase on that.

LG has manufacturing hubs in India, China, Brazil and Mexico. The Indian factory is based near Pune, Maharashtra  and in addition to manufacturing for the local market, its handsets are also exported to the Middle East, Africa and Asia

"Last year, LG sold about 80.5 million handsets and we are looking to sell more than 100 million units by the end of this year," Choi added.

Last year, the company had also been reported to be planning to stop selling CDMA handsets in India as competition from low-cost Chinese handsets was having a catastrophic effect on sales.

Posted to the site on 19th June 2008