(Economic Times via NewsEdge) South Korea's LG is planning to stop selling CDMA handsets in India as competition from low-cost Chinese handsets is having a catastrophic effect on sales.
The company also said it may switch its focus to high-end GSM handsets.
'We are bleeding in the CDMA market because of cheap Chinese handsets. We can't continue like this for long. It all depends on profitability. If we don't make profit, we will exit the business,' LG India chief Moon B Shin told the newspaper.
LG's revenues from selling CDMA handsets shrank to $250 million in calendar year 2006 from $300 million in 2005.
The company has set an even lower target of US$150 million for the current year. The company sold 9 million CDMA handsets last year and aims to sell 7 million units this year.
India is not the only country where LG is facing problems with its CDMA handset business. 'US and Israel are good CDMA markets, but they have saturated. In new markets such as Africa, it's GSM which will have an upper hand,' said Shin, adding that the 'focus on GSM in India was part of our global strategy'.
In the meantime, LG's manufacturing facility in Pune, Maharashtra is to be upgraded over the next few years to produce 10 million units per year.
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