Matsushita to make LCD televisions in Russia

TOKYO, July 16 (Reuters) Panasonic-brand maker Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. said on Sunday it will begin liquid crystal display (LCD) television assembly in Russia in September, taking aim at strong growth potential in flat TV demand there.

Matsushita, the world's largest consumer electronics maker, is also starting plasma TV assembly in Brazil, Latin America's largest country, this weekend.

Matsushita is the top supplier of plasma TVs, and competes with smaller rivals such as South Korea's LG Electronics Inc.

and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. .

Robust demand for flat-panel TV demand is expected in the so-called BRIC market comprising Brazil, Russia, India and China in coming years as their growing economies will likely prompt people to trade in bulky tube TVs for flat-screen models.

Besides local production in Russian and Brazil, Matsushita plans to strengthen its sales network in India, a company spokesman said. It already operates plasma TV assembly facilities in China.

Matsushita said earlier this month that it aimed to boost its flat-panel TV sales by 70 percent to 1 trillion yen (.6 billion) as part of its midterm growth strategy.

The Osaka-based company will ship LCD panels, a key component of LCD TVs, to Russia and consign actual assembly of LCD TVs to a local electronics maker before selling them under its own brand.

The company will target production of 50,000 LCD TVs in Russia in fiscal 2006, which ends in March 2007, and 250,000 units in the following year.

In Brazil, Matsushita plans to assemble plasma TVs at its existing tube TV plant in Manaus at the rate of 10,000 units a year.

The company has said previously that it will target an operating profit margin of 10 percent in the year starting April 2010, double this year's projected margin of 5 percent, partly by boosting overseas sales.

Matsushita's overseas sales accounted for 48 percent of its group revenue of 8.9 trillion yen in the business year that ended in March.

Reuters DKS VP0815