LG to intro GSM handsets in India

NEW DELHI: Korean electronics major LG plans to introduce GSM mobile handsets in India by the end of this calendar year. An internal team is currently researching the market and working out the distribution and revenue models for India, informed Harrison Han, Assistant, Mobile Handsets Overseas Division, Seoul, in town for the Convergence India 03 exhibition.

Currently, LG has three such GSM handsets to offer - the LG 200, LG 500 and the LG 600. The GSM handsets are already available in parts of Europe, and have received a favorable response, according Han.

LG had already entered the mobile handsets market in India by offering its CDMA handsets by bundling it with the two WLL service providers in the country, Tata Indicom and Reliance Infocomm. Han, who handles the Reliance Infocomm account in India added that the bulk orders received from RIL have been "considerably higher" than the orders received from Tata Teleservices in terms of units. He, however, refused to divulge the number of units bought by the two operators so far, or the purchase price.

LG is also formally launching its premium CDMA handsets, the LG 7130 in India in April. (It may be recollected that the 7130 handset is the flip-phone version doing the rounds in the Reliance Infocomm print and electronic advertisements).

Globally, LG has 24 different models of CDMA handsets, though only LG 2130 and LG 7130 has been launched in India so far. Would the GSM model also be pre-bundled? "We are working on the modalities," answered Han.