With G3 Launch, LG Eyes 3-Fold Growth in India Smartphone Sales

Buoyed by increasing smartphone sales across price categories, Korean electronics giant LG said it expects revenues from the segment in India to jump almost three-fold this year.

The handset maker, which launched its flagship smartphone LG G3 in Mumbai on Monday said it is on path to achieve 10 percent market share in the world's second most populous market.

"We are seeing very good traction and will exceed our target of Rs. 2,000 crore in revenues from smartphones in India this year from Rs. 800 crore in 2013," LG Electronics India Managing Director Soon Kwon told PTI.

In the first half of the year, the business from the category has almost trebled, he added.

Asked about the ambitious target of achieving 10 percent market share this year, Kwon said: "It is very much on track and looking at the sales we are having, we are on track to achieve it in 2014."

He added that LG will launch few more handsets this year in the Rs. 20,000-30,000 range to further strengthen its presence and reach. Currently, it has phones in the price category of Rs. 6,500-65,000.

According to research firm IDC, Samsung is the market leader in multi-crore smartphone category in India with 35 percent market share followed by Micromax (15 percent), Karbonn (10 percent), Lava (6 percent), Nokia (4 percent) and others (30 percent).

LG has roped in Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan to promote LG G3 smartphone in the country.

About 15,000 limited edition G3 smartphones with Bachchan's signature will be released in the Indian market and few lucky buyers will get the opportunity to meet him.

The 16GB version will be priced at Rs. 47,990, while the 32 GB version will be available for Rs. 50,990.

LG G3, which sports a 'Kill Switch' that can disable the handset in the event of a theft, features a laser auto focus camera, smart keyboard, smart notice and a slim metallic design.

Globally, the G3 has witnessed exceptional traction and LG expects the same in India, Kwon said.

LG Electronics Marketing Head Amit Gujral said the company expects to sell half a million G3 devices by year-end.

The 4G-supporting smartphone features a 5.5-inch quad HD display, 13-megapixel OIS+ (Optical Image Stabiliser Plus) rear camera and 2.1-megapixel front camera.

With the Android 4.4 KitKat operating system, LG G3 also has a a removable 3,000mAh battery, 2GB (in 16GB variant) and 3GB RAM (32GB variant). It also has a microSD slot with maximum 128 GB capacity.

The firm also unveiled at the event its G watch, priced at Rs 15,000. The watch has a 1.65-inch display and features Qualcomm's Snapdragon 400 processor and has an internal memory of 4 GB with a 512MB RAM. The dust and water resistant watch sports the Android wear OS and has a 400 mAh battery.

LG said G3 is being launched in India with Rs 15,000 worth of consumer offers. There is a discount of Rs 5,000 on the LG G Watch when bought along with the G3. The offer also includes Rs 3,500 worth QuickCircle Case free and an one time screen replacement worth Rs 6,500.