Philips head of corporate brand strategy, Kaushik Roy, told The Financial Express that: ``The company was targetting growth in the highly competitive categories in the CTV market while holding on to its strength and market position in the audio segment.'' This implies that the television business is expected to be the primary income earner for the company this year instead of the audio business. Last year, television sales was at level with that of the audio.

In the audio business, Philips focuswill be on retaining its market share at 35 per cent despite stiff competition from Sony, Aiwa and other brands like Panasonic, Samsung and BPL. In the CTV market, the company aims to make its share grow to at least 10 per cent, up from the current level of about 8 per cent.

Roy said that the company was working on introducing 14 inch CTV models priced in the region of Rs 8,000. In the personal headphones or walkman segment, the company plans to gain fresh ground with products in the Rs 650-700 range while in the CD-based audio segment, it proposes to roll out a range of systems in the Rs 12,000-15,000 price segment.

``We will bring out more products in the Rs 12,000-15,000 category with better features and phase out some of the existing models gradually,'' Roy said, stating the company was set to ``offer consumers products at very affordable prices.'' It is understood that Philips, which is always known for premium pricing, is set to take on price warrior Videocon in certain segments. In the personalheadphone segment, the company has taken Videocon prices as the benchmark. The company has already tasted success with the new 3-CD changer model which was sold for Rs 13,000. In the 20-inch television segment, the company is currently offering models priced under Rs 10,000. Cracking the price barrier in the 14-inch CTV segment is tougher as the cost of materials is significantly high, Roy noted. ``We are working on a new design and intend to bring out a better product than that offered in the market.''

In the audio market, prices have been sliding and are expected to plummet like those of televisions, over the next one year. Philips, too, has been offering price-offs and, in other instances, adding value by bundling free software. In recent months, the company offered free CDs with select systems.