LG India Says Expects to Double Its Mobile Phone Market Share This Year

South Korean electronics player LG said Friday it expects to double market share in the mobile phone segment to 10 percent by year-end on increasing smartphone adoption across price bands in the country.

"Our target is to double the market share in the mobile phone segment to 10 percent from the current four to five percent," LG India's business head (mobile communications) Deepak Jasrotia told PTI.

The handset maker which launched its high-end smartphone LG G4 in Mumbai on Friday, said that it expects to meet its targets encouraged by the rapid increase in smartphone adoption in the country.

According to the International Data Corporation's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, India is the only market expected to post an increase in smartphone shipments over the next few years, while globally the share of smartphone shipments are expected to contract.

India's share of smartphone shipments are expected to increase to 13.29 percent by 2019 from 7.61 percent forecast this year.

LG India expects to sell over 100,000 units of the LG G4 by the end of the current year, Jasrotia said, adding that the launch price of LG G4 is Rs. 51,000.

The company makes handsets starting from Rs. 10,000 to cater to consumers across price bands, he added. He said that mobile sales account for up to 10 percent of total revenues in the country.

A majority of LG India's revenues come from products that the company manufactures in the country, he pointed out.

"We have two manufacturing units in India, at Pune and Noida. But LG does not manufacture mobile devices here," he said.

However, if the company "crosses the threshold of 10 percent marketshare" in handsets, it will consider manufacturing mobile phones in the country, he said.

Apart from mobile phones, LG sells TVs, washing machines and refrigerators among other consumer durables in the country.