LG makes Thailand LED TV base

       The South Korean electronics giant LG has chosen Thailand as the first Asean production base for its latest range of televisions.
       The company will spend about 200 million baht next year on molds, a clean room and other facilities at its Rayong factory to produce the LED and LCD sets locally, said Heegol Lee, general marketing manager for home entertainment at LG Electronics (Thailand) Co.
       Exports will account for about 25% of total output. The Thai-made products will initially be shipped to Laos, Cambodia and Burma.
       Another 340 million baht will be spent locally next year on promoting LG televisions, with a focus on LCD sets.
       Overall demand for the brand's televisions in Thailand this year is estimated at about 3.2 million sets, or 32 billion baht, said Alongkorn Chujit, deputy managing director of LG Electronics (Thailand). LCD sets account for about one million sets, or 19 billion baht, followed by 65,000 plasma sets worth 23 billion baht, with other technologies accounting for the remaining 11 billion baht.
       Overall demand for televisions shrank by 4.3% over the first eight months of the year. But demand for plasma TVs grew by 40% in the period and the LCD segment surged by 80%, while demand for conventional and flat-screen sets slid.
       Sales of LG LCD sets increased by 80% over the period.
       LED units currently account for just 2% of sales, but this is forecast to rise to 20% next year.
       The company will spend 80 million baht promoting LED and LCD products,said managing director Hyun Woo Lee.
       The new LED TV should lift the company's market share of the LCD TV segment to 25% by the year-end, up from 21% last year. The company aims to sell 3,000 units over the next three months.
       The two new products in the LG Live Borderless TV range are priced at 32,990 and 109,990 baht.
       It expects overall sales this year will grow by 15% to 15 billion baht.