Search the Internet          Tips  Sites: Finance, Investment

Citizen targets premium watch market with eco-drive

Fakir Chand in Bangalore

Citizen of Japan, the $3.2-billion global watch company, has set its sights on the Indian market in a big way to capture a substantial share of the premium segment with its latest brand of eco-drive wristwatches.

Though its Indian subsidiary, Citizen Watches India Ltd, made a slow and steady start in the domestic market since its foray three years ago with brands for the mass market, it has redrawn its strategy to move up the value chain by targeting the premium and the high-end segments of the market.

"Our first couple of years in India was less than successful as we had underestimated the Indian consumer's value consciousness and awareness of international trends in the kind of watches we first offered. What we have learnt from this experience is that the Indian customer is actually looking for the best and the latest brands available globally," declared Indian subsidiary managing director N Iwata in Bangalore on Thursday.

Launching the company's first exclusive store 'First Citizen' in Bangalore, which is incidentally the home for India's leading brands, Titan and HMT, Iwata said for the first time in the country, Indian customers would be able to buy Citizen's eco-drive range of watches.

Slated to be the company's flagship and image carrier brand, eco-drive incorporates revolutionary technology that constantly generates energy using ambient light off any source.

"Power stored in an advanced ion-lithium energy reservoir drives the watch. Since its power system lasts the lifetime of the watch, there won't be any need to change its battery. The revolutionary technology constantly generates energy using ambient light of any source," claimed Iwata.

Priced upward Rs 3,690 up to a whopping Rs 30,000 per piece, eco-drive's latest range includes Vitro model, which incorporates a technology breakthrough in using the watch glass to generate power when any light strikes the amorphous silicon though invisible to the naked eye.

"Our extensive marketing research and survey have convinced us that the discerning and high-profile Indian consumers are willing to pay for excellence in design and technology. The niche or premium segment of the Indian watch market is increasingly becoming international in its taste and buying preference," said T Yamamoto, chairman of the Indian subsidiary and managing director of Citizen Watches (Hong Kong) Ltd.

With majority of the players, including Titan and HMT in the organised sector focusing largely at the mass market with watch prices ranging below Rs 2,000-1,500, Citizen has strategically decided to keep away from this segment.

Unfolding Citizen's India plans, Yamamoto told rediff.com later that once the subsidiary picked up enough volumes for mass production, the existing assembling facility at Madras, set up with an investment of Rs 20 million two years ago, would be upgraded into a full-fledged manufacturing facility to roll out the latest and upcoming international brands for the premium segment.

"We have already invested an additional Rs 20 million to promote the Citizen brand across the country. More investments will go in setting up more such exclusive retail showrooms in major cities. The next one will be coming up at Hyderabad in October, and the third at any one of the four metros through the franchise route," Yamamoto affirmed.

According to the subsidiary's senior vice-president Chandy Jacob, the company was targeting a revenue of over Rs 200 million during the current fiscal (2001-02) year to register above 90 per cent growth over the previous fiscal (2000-01) of Rs 110 million.

"In a market size of 30 million watches annually, the premium segment constitutes around 15-20 per cent. This is being catered largely by global brands, mainly from Europe, especially Switzerland. Since, we are a new entrant, our share of this segment is less than 1 per cent as of now.

We intend to double the market share every year as very few global brands can compete with our range of models and brands," claimed Jacob.

While the high-end premium watches are being imported from Citizen's global manufacturing plants at an import tariff of 70-80 per cent, the company is assembling the lower-end premium watches at its Madras facility, which has an installed capacity of rolling out 20,000 watches per month.

"The import duty on CKD parts are half of what it is on finished goods," Jacob added.

With one of the widest and most comprehensive ranges of watches in the world, Citizen's game plan in India is to strengthen its retailing presence to showcase its brands.

It has also introduced an exclusive range for women called 'Femme', and 'Independent', targeted for the young and trendy.

Money
Business News

Tell us what you think of this report