TOKYO (Kyodo) -- The world's second-largest flat-screen TV maker LG Electronics Inc. of South Korea said Monday it will start selling liquid crystal display TVs in Japan in November, reentering the market that it withdrew from in 2008 due to stagnant sales.
The company said it aims to grab at least 5 percent of TV sales in Japan within five years as its global sales are expanding rapidly.
Lee Kyu Hong, president of LG's Japanese arm, said in a press conference that the company has decided to reenter the Japanese market as it sees growing demand for TVs in the country on the back of the ongoing switch from analog to digital TV broadcasting and the government's recent decision to extend an incentive program for appliance purchases.
Japan is set to terminate analog broadcasting and shift completely to digital in July 2011.
In a bid to boost consumer spending, the government has decided to extend the deadline of its "eco-point" incentive program for the purchase of energy-efficient appliances by three months to the end of March.
At electronics retail stores in Japan, the South Korean maker will launch sales of 10 TV models in five series, all equipped with light-emitting diode backlighting.
The models will include a three-dimensional TV and a 55-inch flat-screen TV only 2.3 centimeters wide at its thinnest point, which will sell for around 480,000 yen, the company said.
The Japanese TV market has been dominated by domestic manufacturers, which also led to the withdrawal in 2007 of Samsung Electronics Co. of South Korea, the world's top flat-screen TV seller.
Samsung said it has no plans to reenter the Japanese market.
The company said it aims to grab at least 5 percent of TV sales in Japan within five years as its global sales are expanding rapidly.
Lee Kyu Hong, president of LG's Japanese arm, said in a press conference that the company has decided to reenter the Japanese market as it sees growing demand for TVs in the country on the back of the ongoing switch from analog to digital TV broadcasting and the government's recent decision to extend an incentive program for appliance purchases.
Japan is set to terminate analog broadcasting and shift completely to digital in July 2011.
In a bid to boost consumer spending, the government has decided to extend the deadline of its "eco-point" incentive program for the purchase of energy-efficient appliances by three months to the end of March.
At electronics retail stores in Japan, the South Korean maker will launch sales of 10 TV models in five series, all equipped with light-emitting diode backlighting.
The models will include a three-dimensional TV and a 55-inch flat-screen TV only 2.3 centimeters wide at its thinnest point, which will sell for around 480,000 yen, the company said.
The Japanese TV market has been dominated by domestic manufacturers, which also led to the withdrawal in 2007 of Samsung Electronics Co. of South Korea, the world's top flat-screen TV seller.
Samsung said it has no plans to reenter the Japanese market.
