|
LG
Electronics Philippines is allotting some $2 million or
roughly P86 million in capital expenditures next year to
finance its marketing program and business development
programs.
This
developed as company officials disclosed that they were
currently in negotiations with Globe Telecommunications
and Smart Communications to sell LG’s newest cellphone
unit—the KU990 dubbed LG Viewty—under their respective
phone-service plans.
In a
press briefing during the official launch of the LG
Viewty, Ben Valencia, manager for the company’s mobile-
phones department, said the 2008 capex is double than
this year’s “less than $1 million” allocation. Next
year’s capex will give the company more elbowroom to
firmly push its products in the highly competitive
cell-phone market in the country.
“LG is a
late comer in the cellular-phone business in the
Philippines,” Valencia said as he extolled the “cutting
edge” features of the LG Viewty. The unit combines a
“professional level camera” at 5 megapixels, a
touchscreen interface, high-speed downlink packet
access, with YouTube video capabilities, a DivX player,
and photo-editing applications.
The
company has already submitted its “pricing proposal” to
both Globe and Smart for the cell-phone unit.
“Hopefully, we will have a more concrete picture in the
coming months,” he added.
In a
September review, CNET.co.uk, one of the world’s leading
authorities on cell phones and electronic gadgets,
called the LG Viewty “one of LG’s best phones yet… (It)
is an impressive phone, particularly when you consider
that LG hasn’t made that many high-end camera phones.”
Contrary
to common perception, it is LG Electronics, which
pioneered the LCD touchscreen with the introduction of
the LG Prada—the first mobile phone under the luxury
fashion brand—earlier this year.
Next
year, LG Electronics will be unveiling a wider selection
of products and unique features, thus, justifying a
significant increase in its capex. “This entails a lot
of investments, both below and above the line,” said
Valencia.
He added
that the company is hopeful its market share in the
local cell-phone business will grow to three percent
from one percent this year. Thereafter, the company
projects an improvement in its market share to 10
percent in the beginning of 2009.
“Our
ambitious target is to hit 10-percent market share by
2010,” Valencia said.
He noted
that there is still room to grow in the high-end and
low-end cell-phone market segments. An unlocked LG
Viewty will retail for P24,000.
Since it
entered the Philippine market four years ago with its
low-end mobile-phone units, sales and revenue of LG
Electronics have been on the rise, he added. The
company’s low-end cell phones are also available under
phone service plans with Sun Cellular and Smart.
For his
part, Jeff Hong, chief executive officer of LG
Electronics Philippines, said the LG Viewty shows the
company’s firm “commitment [in providing] high
feature-led technology” to its customers, that no other
mobile phone manufacturers offer. The 5-megapixel
camera, for example, was also a feature in the company’s
KG920 unit introduced in November 2006.
Despite
the LG Viewty’s hefty price tag, the company said it was
poised to position itself in the “open market,” meaning
sell phones that are not locked to any
telecommunications company.
LG
Electronics Inc., a firm listed on the Korean Stock
Exchange, was established in 1958 and pioneered
Korean-made consumer electronics. It has more than
64,000 employees working in its headquarters in Seoul
and 76 subsidiaries worldwide. The company has been
doing business in the Philippines since 1988.
An
affiliate, LG International Corp., is a major player in
the local mining industry having partnered with
Australia’s Lafayette Mining Ltd. in the Rapu-Rapu
mining project in Albay. Aside from cell phones, LG
Electronics also manufactures digital audio and video
equipment, air conditioners, kitchen appliances, and
telecommunications equipment. |
