Samsung mulls Notebook PC manufacturing unit in India

South Korea's Samsung Electronics is mulling setting up a Notebook PC manufacturing facility in India and plans to make further investment in expanding its research and development (R&D) facility.

"We are drawing up plans for manufacturing more products in India. Notebook PCs (which the company is launching in India later this year), could be one of the new products we may begin producing in India," K S Kim, president & CEO (Asia Pacific), Samsung Asia, said in New Delhi on Tuesday.

Refusing to give details on the investments the company is planning to make in India in setting up the new manufacturing facility, he said, "Nothing has been firmed up as of now."

Samsung currently manufactures TVs, ACs, refrigerators, computer monitors, washing machines and microwaves in India.

Out of its current range of products, the company does not manufacture audio goods, mobile phones, computer storage devices and camcorders in India.

M Y Shin, executive vice president, Samsung Electronics, said Samsung would be investing heavily in expanding its research and development facility in India, which provides software for the firm's global requirements.

"Software engineers at our Noida R&D centre will increase to 200 by next year," he said.

Both Kim and Shin refused to give further details on investments. "Our R&D operations cost $30 million annually," said Shin.

Besides, Samsung also plans to double the software engineers at its Bangalore R&D centre to 300 by the year-end. The centre provides software for the company's handphone and IT products like printers.

Shin said India was among the six markets with fastest growth potential, others being the United States, China, Russia, Thailand and Brazil.

"We expect revenues from India to account for 2.5 per cent of our global revenues next year. Current revenues of less than a billion dollars from India is about 1.8 per cent of $49.6 billion in global sales," Kim said.

Pointing out that revenues from India would increase to about Rs 5,000 crore (Rs 50 billion) in 2003, he said the growth would come from consumers shifting to digital flat TVs from conventional TVs.

"Conventional TV sales constitute 80 per cent of the total televisions sold but only 55 per cent of the revenue, whereas high-end TVs give 45 per cent of the revenue from 15-20 per cent unit sales," he said.

Samsung plans to introduce a range of large plasma display panel, liquid crystal display and projection televisions, featuring ultra-crisp images, improved picture quality and unsurpassed resolution, in India beginning September.

Shin said Samsung India has set up a software technology park at Noida to develop application software for Samsung's visual display division (colour televisions). This STP unit, set up with an investment of $2 million, will be developing software applications for Samsung's global software requirements in the area of conventional televisions, projection, plasma and LCD TVs.