The Hindu : Business : Philips to step up India operations

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Friday, Sep 05, 2008
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Philips to step up India operations

Shyam Ranganathan

BERLIN: Consumer products giant Philips would step up its India operations over the next couple of years, while de-prioritising some other sectors, according to Egbert van Acht, Chief Marketing Officer, Royal Philips Electronics.

As an immediate step, Philips would set up a special group in Delhi to study India-specific market conditions. This would accompany heavy investment in brand-building and retail marketing in the next few years, he said.

Speaking on the sidelines of the International Funkausstellung (IFA), the premier consumer electronics trade show in Berlin, Mr. van Acht said that India was among the top three priority areas for Philips now along with China and Brazil.

This was especially true in the consumer lifestyle sector where there was a huge market for “health and well-being” products. However, since Indian conditions differed widely from European conditions, India-specific research and marketing were priority areas for Philips.

He cited the development of the water-purifier segment, which Philips started in India with extensive market research.

“Europeans do not appreciate this product much because you get clean water directly from the tap here. But, we export the purifier to Brazil, China and other countries,” he said.

Major concern

Noting that the credit crunch and rising manufacturing costs were a problem, he said Philips was still looking at expanding the scale of operations in India. Philips had taken some measures, including de-prioritisation of its TV business in North America, he said.

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