Hisense Targets 10% Market Share In East India’s TV Market, Aims For Pan-India Presence Within 18 Months

With a rich 55-year legacy of excellence, Hisense has established itself as a global leader, dominating the Chinese market and securing the top position in countries like Japan and South Africa. In markets such as Canada, Australia, and Mexico, Hisense holds second ranks. Beyond its success in the TV sector, Hisense also leads the refrigerator market in the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Slovenia.

Having proven its global prowess, Hisense is now focused on expanding its presence in India, with Eastern India identified as a priority for the near future. Speaking to Bizz Buzz, Pankaj Rana, CEO, Hisense, outlines global brand's future plans and strategies

How big would be the overall size of the consumer electronics market in India right now?

Let me tell you about the TV market. The TV market in India is around 15 million units or around Rs 3,000 crore industry in India. And we started selling our TVs in India under the Hisense brand three years ago. But majorly, we were selling in the e-commerce channel. But for the last six months, we have started developing the offline channel.

How did you start selling your TVs in India?

We started our offline channel development from the East India. So East India or West Bengal, if I may say so, then we have placed our TVs on 400 dealers. And then Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, and so on.

When would you develop your channels in other markets?

Our offline channel development initiatives across all the markets in the North are going to happen soon. We will place our TVs in those markets. And our plan in East India is to target around double-digit market share, which is 10 per cent.

What about the Hisense brand, as a whole?

If I tell you about Hisense brand, then Hisense is the number two TV brand in the world. And the large screen TV, like the 100-inch TV, is the number one brand. Along with this TV, we are launching a complete range of air conditioners in January. We are launching a total of 10 FKU air conditioners. In the inverter and in the fixed speed. And in April, we are launching a washing machine lineup.

We are starting from East India. But along with this, after East India, we will take our expansion of the offline channel of the dealer network to South India, then to West India, then to East India, then to North India.

How soon would you like it to be a Pan India brand?

Yes, sir. Next one, one and a half year, I think it will take a while when we will set our distribution in Pan India. One more thing, I want to tell you about Hisense. Hisense has been associated with football for the last eight years. In the last two World Cup, which was in Qatar, before that, it was in Russia, Hisense was a sponsor. After that, with Euro Cup, we are connected from 2016.

So, with football, we have a very close association. And in this respect, this is also a very big reason for us to start from East India, because in East India, football has a very big fan base. And the second reason is that our distribution partner, Rohit Refrigeration, is our exclusive distribution partner for East India.

As you mentioned about your association with soccer, Kolkata is known to be a soccer city. Do you have any plans to get associated with Kolkata soccer?

Yes, absolutely. I mean, we haven't finalized it yet with the team and the club, but our plan is that we will definitely associate ourselves with football on a local level in East India.

So, your plan is to become a Pan India player, that is for TV, AC and washing machine?

Yes, for all three products. We will try to cover all India in 2025, by that time we will be more than 18 months old in the country with the two new products.

So, you will be a national player in one to one and a half year, for sure?

Yes, yes.

And what is the market share of the AC and washing machine that you are looking at?

In one and a half years, I mean, at all India level, we are aiming for 4 to 5 per cent market share.

And in TV segment?

No, we will do a little more in TV segment, because we have been selling TV for three years already and we have been selling it quite well on e-commerce platform. So, we will be aiming for 7 per cent to 8 per cent in TV segment.

Is this national market share that you are talking about?

Yes, national market share.

How important is technology adoption in your organisation?

Yes, that's a good question. We have a dedicated team that is working on how to embrace and adopt new technology and technological innovations. We are working on our smart home project. We are working on the automation project. We are working on the connected products, smart home and artificial intelligence. So, this aims at connecting all our products - from TV, air conditioner or washing machine to connected home and smart home project.

How soon will this be ready?

It will take 1.5 years for the ecosystem to be ready in India. But next year we will launch the entire Wi-Fi and connected lineup in our air conditioner segments. TV, air conditioner and connected home will be ready in the next 18 months.

Does the Indian office also operate in neighbouring countries?

No sir, Indian office operates only for India, not neighbouring countries, at this point in time.

And where is the manufacturing facility for this product?

The manufacturing of our product is 100 per cent local in India. It's 100 per cent made in India.

Are these Indian products exported to other countries, or any plans in this regard?

Not in short term. Short term means that it is not in the next 2-3 years. But it may be done after that.

So, after 2 years at least you will initiate the process of exports to neighbouring countries?

Yes sir, now the plan has not been formalised yet but we will talk about it after that.

How would you like to see Hisense, say, two- three years down the road? What are your plans like?

We do not want to make the high sense only a TV making company. We want to make the high sense a home appliances company. In next 2-3 years, we want to launch TV, AC, washing machine, kitchen appliances.

And secondly, we want to become an all-India brand. East, South, North, West. And then we want to sell our products in every channel. Whether they are big retail stores like Khosla Electronics, Great Eastern in Kolkata. We want to have a robust distribution through e-commerce and physical retailing. So, by doing 360-degree marketing, we want to launch the brand in India.

What are your plans for the next 3-4 months?

We will open our first exclusive outlet in West Bengal in Kolkata in the next 3-4 months. After that, we will expand further.

And what are the number of outlets you are looking for?

It is little too difficult to tell you now, but at least it will be done on an all-India level. Let's see how it plays out.