CHENNAI: Akai Consumer Electronics (India) Ltd., owned by the Dhoots of Videocon, would aim at a growth of 25 per cent every year from 2006-07 onwards. At present, the company is growing at around 15-17 per cent.

Besant Pande, Chief Operating Officer (COO), said Akai would end the current financial year with sales of around Rs. 400 crore. Eighty per cent of its revenue came from the sale of CTVs (colour televisions) and the balance from other consumer durable items such as DVDs (digital video discs), and refrigerators.

In an interaction with The Hindu, Mr. Pande said Akai had a market share of 4.5 per cent in the CTV segment. "We are hoping to reach seven per cent in two years," he said. Akai would focus on beefing up its network, improving the product availability, conducting road shows, developing rural markets and pursuing aggressive brand promotion to raise its market share, he said.

Mr. Pande was here to launch the Samurai brand of flat CTVs in the South. Akai launched three versions of Samurai CTVs in the price range of Rs. 6,490-12,990. It had lined up a slew of launches in January. These would include Samurai Thin, plasma 42-inch CTV and LCDs (liquid crystal display), among others.

Akai had at least four sub-brands — Ninja for entry-level products, Black Belt Gold for mid-range products, Samurai for premium products and Sumo for large screen products. Mr. Pande indicated that Akai would have an independent sub-brand for its LCDs.

Mr. Pande said the Dhoots owned the Akai brand in India. "All our products are designed by Akai in Japan at its R&D centre." These were, however, made at the Videocon facility in Maharashtra, he added. Key components such as the ICs (integrated circuits), and moulds were imported.

He said the company was toying with the idea of putting up its own production unit. It had zeroed in on Bhuj in Gujarat since the Government had promised excise concessions. It would take at least two years for the production site to come up, he said.

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