LG Electronics India, with the release of a new range of flat panel televisions, is primarily eyeing the replacement cum upgradation market in the non-metro cities in order to stay ahead in the race.

According to Rishi Tandan, marketing head, home entertainment at LG Electronics India, LG ranked second in the LED TV market with a 24.2% market share.

Samsung India is at the numero uno position with 26.2% market share and Sony was at the number three spot with 20% market share, said Tandan.

The flat panel market television market was 5.5 million units, which is expected to be 7.5 million units this year. LED TVs now account for around 80% of the total flat panel television market.

“We are aiming to have a 30% share in the LED TV market by the end of this year. We are targeting the upgradation market as a lot of people with CRT TVs are now upgrading to LEDs,” said Tandan.

According to him, the company is already in the process of making an exit from the LCD market and this pie would see more contraction by the end of this year.

“The price gap between LCD and LED has narrowed down sharply and that has caused the demise of interest in LCD TVs. Two years back, the price gap between a LED and LCD TV was around Rs 10,000 but that has come down to around Rs 3000 now,” he added.

Another reason behind rise of LED televisions is the fact that they are sleeker, provide better picture quality and consume less power than LCD televisions.

LED TVs contributed around 37% to the home entertainment vertical of LG India, in terms of quantity.

The company is also making substantial investments for the marketing activities and has allocated Rs 100 crore for the same.