Sony Sets Up TV Production in Russia’s Westernmost Region
A factory in Kaliningrad will start producing Sony’s LCDs this year. With the annual output of 300,000 televisions a year, the Baltmikst plant hopes to secure a no less lucrative contract with Panasonic. The presence of these global players is most likely to cut prices on LCDs in Russia.
The contract for the television production at Baltmikst, operated by Advantage Group, was signed earlier this year, Vitaly Dakhnenko, director general of Advantage Group, told Kommersant. The factory plans to produce 200,000 televisions this year to increase the number to 300,000 annually in 2008 and further on. Baltmikst hopes to sell Kaliningrad-produced Sony LCDs for $160 million this year.
Advantage Group invests in real estate development and electronics production and also manages the Baltmikst factory. The group’s founder and owner Mikhail Pechersky is a former vice-president at Alfa Bank. Baltmikst currently produces electronics for Philips, JVC, Daewoo, Sanyo and Elenberg. It has the capacity of 1 million tube televisions, 600,000 LCD and plasma televisions and 1 million DVD players.
Sony is not the only media giant to be interested in the Kaliningrad-based factory. The company is now also in talks with Panasonic for the production of LCDs under the franchise, Vitaly Dakhnenko says.
With the status of a free economic zone, Kaliningrad Region has rapidly become the hub of electronics manufacturing. The area is a home for a number of television producers such as Radioimport, Polar, Telebalt, Roslen and others. Samsung also has plans to build its own factory in this region where companies save roughly 10 percent on production costs. The abundance of offer will ultimately cut retail prices on LCDs.
Leonid Tyukavkin, vice-president of the Tekhnosila media retailer, says Sony and Panasonic are sure to find buyers in Russia: “The demand on LCDs in Russia is growing fast. Sales in this market segment went up 481.5 percent last year, compared to 2005.”
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Mar. 02, 2007
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