Audio equipment maker JBL eyes 200% growth in India this year

Audio equipment maker JBL by HARMAN, owned by South Korean tech major Samsung Electronics, is eyeing at expanding its footprint in the Indian audio market, which is forecast to grow more than 15% in 2019.

In August 2018, JBL entered the e-commerce sector by introducing its online store. Its online brand store sells the entire range of consumer products, from headphones and Bluetooth speakers to home and multimedia solutions.

JBL is now working towards expanding its retail presence.

Sumit Chauhan, Vice President, Lifestyle Audio Division at HARMAN India, said, "We will double up on our revenue and will grow by 200 per cent this year in India."

"You will see that the audio segment in the category that we deal in, headphones, smart audio and connected homes, is slated to grow somewhere around 12-14 per cent. In India, the market is slightly better, growing at 16 per cent against the global forecast," he added.

The company is further working towards entering the smaller towns.

Chauhan further stated, "There is positive expansion happening in tier III and IV cities. Whether you take data from online players like Amazon and Flipkart, or from offline players like Croma and Reliance, both will tell you that much of their growth in 2019-20 is expected to come from Tier III and Tier IV cities."