New Delhi, May 13: Japanese electronics major Sony India today said it planned to phase out television sets with cathode ray tubes and would invest Rs 60 crore to promote its new range of Bravia LCD models during the current fiscal.

Worldwide, the company has stopped the production of cathode ray tubes (CRT) models and is in the process of clearing its current stock here.

“Last Diwali, we took a decision to stop the production of CRT models and instead concentrate on LCD sets. So, we will exit the CRT segment soon,” said Masaru Tamagawa, managing director of Sony India.

Sony’s new range of Bravia LCD sets is priced between Rs 16,000 and Rs 2.99 lakh.

The company is targeting a sales volume of 4.5 lakh LCD units in the current fiscal, an increase of more than 60 per cent compared with 2.80 lakh units in the last fiscal.

“LCD accounted for 21 per cent of our television sales in 2008-09. It is expected that in the current fiscal it will account for 57 per cent of our total sales in India,” he said.

Though Sony is targeting a 30 per cent share in the domestic LCD market, India, at present, contributes only about 3 per cent to the company’s global revenues.

The size of the LCD television market is estimated at around one million units and is expected to grow to three million units by 2010.

The company, however, declined to provide any details about the revenue projections and its earnings during the last fiscal.

Nikon target

Nikon India, the wholly owned subsidiary of Japan’s Nikon Corporation, is looking at garnering a 45 per cent share in the domestic digital SLR camera market by 2010.

The company, which has a 37 per cent share in the 12,000-unit Indian digital SLR market, is also planning to increase the number of service centres in the country, Nikon India managing director Hidehiko Tanaka today said.

The company today launched a 12.3 mega pixel D5000 camera, priced at Rs 48,950-Rs 55,950.