Preeti Mehra

New Delhi, May 29 Electronics major Philips India is finding markets beyond the country’s shores for consumer products that have been developed keeping the Indian consumer in mind.

The company’s ‘Intelligent Water-Purifier’ is now being exported to Thailand, Brazil, Turkey, and Eastern Europe. “The water purifier is a typical product where we were able to identify the health needs of consumers… and bundled with UV technology, it hit the sweet spot,” said Mr Murali Sivaraman, Philips’ Managing Director and CEO for the Indian subcontinent.

The water purifier, where Philips has pioneered the use of ultraviolet light technology for water purification, is largely manufactured as a household model with co-partners in Himachal Pradesh. However, it also has the potential to be used as a technology innovation for larger installations for cities.

Philips ‘Intelligent Super Silent Mixer’, an innovation which cuts out the usual noise levels experienced while a normal food processor is in operation, too has generated interest in the West Asian and Sri Lankan markets. The company is seeing increased requests for its exports.

It expects its latest launch — the ‘Rip-All AZ1856 CD Sound Machine’ — to generate similar interest in overseas markets. The ‘Rip-All’, launched in January 2008, has been conceptualised and created primarily for the Indian market. It provides consumers with the option of ripping music from cassettes, CD and FM Radio into MP3 format. The same can be downloaded and played back through USB flash drive or MP3 players.

“Music lovers no longer run the risk of losing songs. Now preserving old music from the favourite cassette or a song from the radio is just a single touch away,” explains Mr Sivaraman. The product has massive potential in the BRIC markets and maybe beyond, says a company official.

Currently, the company’s consumer lifestyle division is also test-marketing its new product the ‘Intelligent Food Processor’ in Kerala.

“The Indian woman always puts one hand on the lid of the processor when she is using it and hence has to be always present when she works the mixer. So we have designed a hands-free model where an arm and a timer do the woman’s job, while she is free to attend to other things,” explains Mr Vivek Sharma, Chief Marketing Officer for the Indian subcontinent, adding that it comes with a powerful motor with a ‘reverse quadra flow’ for a superior grinding experience.

“This is in line with Philips’ objective to transform itself into a lifestyle and healthcare company using innovation as a key driver. All the products have been developed with extensive research on consumer insights carried out in India,” says the market leader in the kitchen appliances category. And if there are takers in other countries, why not?

© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu Business Line