How do you see the Indian mobile market growing?
The Indian government is looking at a target of 250 million lines in a few years and a large chunk of this will come from mobile subscriptions. Wireless subscriptions have already exceeded wireline. So, I am optimistic that mobile sector will further grow. We foresee a demand for more smartphones here.

Presently, India has very low tele-density but the potential is huge, both in terms of sales and manufacturing. The availability of skilled manpower also makes it one of the best countries for manufacturing of mobile phones.

What is LG's telecom strategy in India on the handset front?
We have set up a mobile phone manufacturing plant here and this will give us an edge over others in terms of quality, production, and market share. We are investing close to two to three percent of our turnover towards R&D. And we hope to establish India as an R&D hub for consumer electronics, home appliances, and GSM phones.

Having done well in the CDMA space, what are your plans in the GSM category?
LG has always been a frontrunner as far as technology is concerned. When we started GSM operations, the company was already present in the CDMA space and the customers had already gone through their share of exposure to brands in mobile phone category. I feel our presence both in GSM and CDMA showcases our strength in mobility.

Presently, all LG GSM handsets have color screens and GPRS feature, regardless of price. We've also launched several camera phones and they are all popular with customers.

LG's forté is color and camera phones. How do you plan to be number one in this segment?
LG sold 500,000 GSM units last year. With the domestic market for GSM phones growing, we plan to grab a large slice of the market by manufacturing locally instead of importing. It gives the advantage of reducing time to market for new models and addressing consumer needs ahead of competition.

How many handsets are you manufacturing at Ranjangaon?
Ranjangaon has started pilot production for two GSM models. Plans are to close the year with two million handsets. We are planning 20 million mobile phones by 2010, of which half will be exported.

What is LG India doing in software development? How big is the mobile phone R&D team?
The Ranjangaon plant houses LG's R&D centre for GSM. It will have a 200-member team to develop software for handsets. Later the R&D team would also start work on hardware integration.

Why hasn't LG launched high-end GSM phones in India?
Currently, we are not into high-end phones as we are waiting for the 3G implementation. The future is smartphones and we are also focusing on them.

What is LG's global market share in 3G handsets? What is your strategy for India?
LG had 54 percent in Europe, West Asia, and Africa in 3Q 2004. In India we are waiting for the government to clear spectrum issues. After that we have got huge plans for 3G and we would showcase the power of LG in 3G.

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