According to the Managing Director of Thomson Consumer Electronics India Limited, Vivek Badrinath, the growth of the consumer electronics sector in India has slowed down in calendar year 2000, after witnessing a boom in the previous four years. “While 1999 was the peak growth year, 2000 has not turned out to be a beautiful year for the CTV sector,” he said. When asked if he related the slowdown to the sluggish growth of the Indian economy on the whole, he said that it was more a case of a “burn-out” after phenomenal growth than anything else. But the sector holds great promise for growth in coming years, he said.

Badrinath was in Nagpur to open Thomson’s exclusive showroom, the Techno-Shoppe. It is Thomson’s fourth Techno-Shoppe in the country. Thomson is a group company of Thomson Consumer Electronics, the world’s fourth largest consumer electronics group. He said that the Techno-Shoppe was in line with the company’s projection as a maker of futuristic products. Realising that white goods was not its idea of future, Thomson sold off the refrigerator/ washing machine division to develop its core consumer electronics business and hook on to Internet technologies.

MNCs operations: Even as the debate on allowing multinational companies (MNCs) to operate in the country rages on, Badrinath feels that MNCs with long-term commitments in India will only do wonders to its economy. There has been opposition to MNCs even in some of the developed European countries. But all MNCs are not the same and in no way be related with ‘colonial intentions’, as feared by the trade unions. The idea is to do business and that too in a fair way and in accordance with law, he asserted.

According to him, the best way to judge MNCs is to see whether they are just “fair weather friends” or mates for all climates. Such MNCs are bad guys, who will stay in the country only till the weather remains pleasant and will quit if the road becomes bumpy. Thomson India, however, has a long-term commitment in the country and thrives on challenges. “The company gets going when the going gets tough’, he asserted.

Badrinath admitted that Thomson has been slow in playing its moves in the country but said that the brand has made its presence felt in the market. The higher price of Thomson products has restrained customers from buying them but that does not bother him. “Our Korean friends are very active but we have a place of our own in the market. We are on the premium side. We believe in quality and not on mass production of cheap products,” he pointed out.

Almost all of Thomson India’s employees are Indians, Badrinath, an expatriate Indian brought up and educated in France, said. Another indication of its serious motive in the country was that its parent company, the US-based, $8 billion Thomson Consumer Electronics, has given great importance to its Indian operations rather than treating them as a side activity, he said.

Thomson is the No. 1 television company in the USA, outselling Sony, Panasonic, Toshiba, Samsung, Daewoo and LG taken together and is the second largest in Europe. The company sells close to two lakh TV units in India annually and its turnover last year was Rs 200 crore.

India’s importance: There was another reason to the importance accorded to India. Ten per cent of Thomson’s worldwide sales are from Asia and more than half of these come from India. Badrinath described the Indian market in general and the TV and consumer electronic goods market in particular as dynamic and competitive. And while the general perception is that India procrastinates, he has been awed by the speed with which new technology is being lapped up by Indians. The speed of change in India is stupendous, he said.

Badrinath considers India, with its great cultural diversity, as a tougher market as compared to other Asian countries. “We have been in India for five-six years and we have learnt a lot, some of it the hard way. Indians want good sound and they want great features, which shows that they are a technology-savvy people. So our focus would be on these areas. We are a technology company and we will bring in our entire lot of digital products to whet Indians’ appetite for the high-tech,” he said. At present, Thomson India’s portfolio comprises largely of audio, video and colour TV segments.

Future plans: One of Badrinath’s immediate plans is to re-orient the company’s operations. The focus would be on brand-building and promoting Thomson as a premium, digital-age brand, supported by good manufacturing and designing. “And there would be some marketing buzz too. We have decided for an all-out launching. We are reviewing our marketing strategy and are re-focussing our advertisement budget,” he said.

Thomsom would be introducing most of its high-end and high-tech products in the country next year.  While it has already introduced such sophisticated gadgets as digital versatile discs (DVDs), Plasma, Truflat, 100 Hz TVs and cable modems, other products like the interactive TV, digital satellite system and the high definition TV will be here soon, Badrinath said adding that the company has taken advantage of the convergence of the TV, IT and telecommunications businesses to seize the leadership in the emerging markets for digital and multimedia products, he said.

Testifying to Thomson’s mastery of digital technology are its pioneering products like the digital satellite system, DVD, high-definition TV, Truflat, Plasma and 100 Hz TV. In convergence technology, Thomson has shown the way with cable modems, set top boxes and MP3 players. The company has patented several components, which go into TV, audio, video and digital systems. At present, it holds patents to some 29,500 components/ products, including the MP3 which is a system which helps one browse the Net on the TV, Badrinath informed.

Thomson products: Badrinath gave a peep-in into the range of Thomson’s hi-fi products. The Scenium Truflat is a zero curvature TV with 450 W power output and several features. The digital versatile disc (DVD) is a digitally compressed storage and retrieval system which reproduces clear picture and sound. Three full-length movies can be stored in one disc with provision for eight language dubs and 32 language sub-titles. The set top box converts a TV into a device for Internet connection. All one needs is a keyboard and a mouse. Internet can be accessed either through a telephone line or when delivered through cable. The cable modem allows high-speed access to the Internet to the Internet via a cable TV network. The Plasma TV is a no-picture-tube TV which uses Plasma technology to reproduce excellent pictures. Plasma TV is just 96 mm thin, which makes it mountable on walls.

Thomson also introduced India’s first VCD with built-in video games. The digital satellite system (DSS) is an 18 inch dish which can be installed at home to receive from satellite up to a maximum 175 digital channels. No cable delivery is involved and hence there is no signal loss. The Lyra (portable digital multi-media player) is an advanced digital audio product. It downloads CD-quality music from the Internet to the player. It works on the MP3 format. Thomson also makes the 100 Hz rear projection TV. The rear projection enables the screen size to be bigger and bigger, to give a theatre-like experience at home. The company’s flagship in the audio systems is the Altima series with speakers made from Kevlar brand fibre.

Kevlar, a DuPont trademark, imparts toughness to the speaker, thus ensuring better bass reproduction and excellent sound output. It is also planning to launch interactive TV in India, Badrinath said. A user is able to “interact” with this TV and give commands to get what he wants, for example, Net browsing, e-mailing, stock exchange information, etc.

Thomson has a network of over 1,500 dealers in the country and 23 branch offices. After-sales service is an area where the company will be giving more attention than even marketing, Badrinath said.