About 60 percent of plasma and LCD TVs are being smuggled into Pakistan annually, said Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Document World Pakistan (DWP) Rizwan Butt. He was addressing the media personals on the launching ceremony of new series of Samsung LCD TV' on Monday at Bhurban.
DWP Chief executive Farooq Naseem, Senior Manager of Samsung Electronics Company Limited Jin Gak, Marketing Manager Khurram Farooq, Product Manager Kaleem Khan, and Sales and Marketing of TV MEA Manager Hyun Joong Kim, were also present on the occasion.
He said that some of the manufacturers/assemblers of Plasma Display Panel (PDP) and Liquid Crystal Display Panel (LCDP) represented the government that they were facing tough competition because of smuggling of these items. "They claimed that smuggled TV sets are available at 28 percent to 41 percent cheaper than locally produced/assembled LCD/PDP. This price difference rendered the local assembling/manufacturing of LCD/PDP uncompetitive in the domestic market", he maintained.
"They proposed to abolish customs duty on the SKD of the LCD and Plasma TVs together with application of strict administrative measures", he added. He further said that to discourage smuggling, they brought drastic changes in the prices of the electronic products.
"Besides, there is a dire need to create warranty awareness among the masses", he added. He said that in the near future Samsung and DWP would invest 1.5 billion dollars and emphasis would be more on infrastructural development.
"We would continue to invest in Pakistan despite knowing the current political instability and weak financial position that no doubt is discouraging many investors", he said. Speaking on the occasion, Khurram Farooq said: "Samsung today marked the beginning of a new era in the evolution of entertainment with the launch of its new series of high-definition LCD TVs for the consumer Series 6, Series 5, Series 4 and Series 3.
"Combining elegant styling with a wide range of higher-end components ordinarily exclusive to premium sets, consumers can now experience superb picture quality, optimised digital performance, and ease-of-use in an HDTV that fits seamlessly into any home décor."
He further said: "HD market has unlimited potential in Pakistan and consumers' expectations are already running very high. Samsung's new HD solution presents unprecedented picture clarity, the widest colour expression and amazing sound, complemented by distinctive sleek style. These new models are set to make big impact on our lifestyle as the introduction of television did on the lives of our forefather. Samsung has a reputation for innovative and stylish products and our new range will have no exception," he added.
He further said that they were confident that people of all level would appreciate the addition of these stylish models. "This is very important step of Samsung, which is set to support our expansion in this competitive product sector," said Jin Gak Chung. "By raising technology to the level of art, these new series are great examples of Samsung's approach to LCD TVs," said Farooq Naseem. "Customers' care being the cornerstone of DWP's business philosophy, every LCD TV is backed by authorised Samsung-DWP Warranty. Customers get complete satisfaction after sale support through a countrywide network of authorised service centres.