After the Koreans, Japanese and the Chinese, it’s now the turn of the Germans to try their fortunes in the Indian consumer durables market.
G-hanz Sampo Gmbh of Germany has made a formal entry into the Rs 20,000 crore Indian durables segment through Mukesh Ambani-promoted Reliance Retail. The brand is now available at Reliance Retail?s newly opened RelianceMart hypermarket in Ahmedabad.
Reliance Retail officials told FE, ?We have recently entered into an exclusive distribution arrangement with G-hanz Sampo to sell G-hanz, a German branded CTV (flat and LCD) in India. With this arrangement, G-hanz branded 29-inch flat CTV is being sold at Rs 10,000 and 21-inch TV at Rs 4,990 through RelianceMart.?
In comparison, Korean giants LG and Samsung?s 21-inch CTVs are currently priced at over Rs 5,500, whereas their 29-inch flat CTVs are priced at around Rs 13,000. The aggressive pricing of the German brand is likely to create a storm in the Indian consumer electronics segment. Reliance Retail is planning to set up a pan-India 500 RelianceMart by 2010, which will sell ?G-hanz? branded CTVs with similar price cuts. Although this is an introductory offer, industry experts believe that if the ?G-hanz? brand takes off well through RelianceMart, there is a possibility of a price war in the consumer electronics segment and competitors will have to look at cutting costs of their CTVs.
Located in Nuernberg, Germany, G-hanz Sampo is the direct subsidiary of the Sampo group from Taiwan, which has 70 years of experience in home appliances and consumer electronics. G-hanz Sampo, which specialises in research and development, manufacturing and distributing 26-inch, 42-inch LCD TVs.