The company is selling 5,000 CD/VCD systems and 40,000 units of lower-end audios. It expects to generate a turnover of Rs 100 crore for the year ending March 31, 2001. Says BPL Sanyo Technologies Ltd, national sales head, Mr Alok Arora: "The company has targeted a turnover of Rs 150 crore for the next fiscal."

The company plans to invest Rs 12 to Rs 15 crore on new product introductions for the year ended 2000-01 and 2001-02.

Says Mr Arora: "In the audio business, we intend to keep ourselves updated with contemporary models, and as such, new introductions are a continuous exercise. Hi-fi systems are an integral part of our entertainment electronics business group which includes CTVs, DVDs, B/Ws among others. Besides, audios provide the much required youth connect for any CTV brand."

Adds Mr Arora: "Marketing strategies in introducing audio hi-fi systems include getting the right product which is contemporary, right pricing and promoting it on the `sound' platform. `Magic of music' has been our communication line which is being appropriated even now. D-Fi is another sub-branding which is being used in the communication."

According to Mr Arora: "As regards the pricing strategy, the company believes in offering good music at competitive prices-this means product offering which are contemporary, feature-packed and aesthetically acceptable. BPL has a strategic alliance with Sanyo, Japan."

Says Mr Arora: "The company has 115 distributors across major cities and every distributor has 25-30 dealers under him. Most of the distributors are linked with e-mail and transact business on the e-mail with the company."

Of the total size of Rs 900-crore audio market, BPL's marketshare is 12 per cent in volume which includes the entire range of audios right from mono cassette recorder to hi-fi CD/VCD systems. "Thus, the audio hi-fi market is seeing one of the best possible growth in the last two years and we expect the same to continue in the coming years," he said. Competitor Philips India has achieved the number one position in the overall audio market with a marketshare of 30 per cent and Baron Electronic's Aiwa is in the second place with a marketshare of 20 per cent. The price spectrum for BPL high-end audio systems ranges from Rs 9,900 to Rs 20,490. The Philips high-end audio system is priced in the range of Rs 10,000 to Rs 30,000 and Aiwa is available in the range Rs 5,990 to Rs 49,990.