Haier enters Indian handset market

China's top consumer electronics maker Haier officially launched sales of its mobile handsets in India, saying it was targeting sales of at least 500,000 units in its first year. The launch aims to give Haier's a bigger foothold in India's fast-growing US$4bn consumer goods market. Its mobile segment is the fastest growing worldwide, with major handset manufacturers Nokia, Motorola, Samsung and LG already there. T.K. Banerjee, president of Haier Appliances India Ltd., said he expected handset sales to grow by 60% a year, in line with industry growth. Haier will import the phones from China, where it has a production capacity of 15m handsets a year.