Revenue from India may double this year: Samsung

Electronic goods manufacturer Samsung Electronics expects to double its revenue from Indian market to Rs 200 crore (Rs 2 billion) in the digital imaging portfolio segment in the current year, a top official said.

"We are looking at doubling our sales this year and take our revenues from the camera and camcorder segment to Rs 200-crore during the period," Samsung India's deputy managing director Ravinder Zutsi told PTI.

On the back of a reviving economy, the company expects a significant pick up in sales in Indian market moving ahead. It plans to launch atleast 24 products here by early-March, Zutsi said.

Samsung clocked Rs 95 crore (Rs 950 million) revenue from its operations in the digital imaging segment in 2009. It expects a visible pick up in sales with the launch of some unique and customised products this year, Zutsi said.

Samsung is likely to price its NX series at Rs 50,000, which would be a hybrid camera having features of both compact as well as DSLR cameras.

Zutsi said that Samsung's sales in the compact camera segment is likely to go up to 3 lakh units this year from 1.6 lakh units in 2009. In the camcorders division, it targets to sell 30,000 units in this year as against 11,000 units last year.

"We are targetting more sales from the compact cameras, which has been priced in the range of Rs 7,999-Rs 24,990. Also, we are the first to launch NX series, for those who want to have SLR cameras but cannot afford the price," Zutsi said.

The company launched its revolutionary and customised ES73 model, which, it said, is the India's first digital camera equipped with two Indian languages.

The device has an anti-dust and moisture proof feature, specially designed for Indian climate. Samsung has also chalked out plans to scale up its retail chain in the country to 450 by opening 150 Samsung Plaza stores on franchise basis this year, Zutsi said.

Cost to set up a store will be around Rs 30 lakh. It also plans to increase its distribution network here to 60 from the present 43 distributors.