In its bid to capture the B2B (business-to-business) segment in a big way, LG Electronics India Ltd is conducting an R&D (Research and Development) programme in Korea to understand the needs of the market and create niche products to suit the category, said a top company official.

For the B2B category the company might look at introducing products in the display segment, appliances, hospital and office equipment or even educational institutions equipment.

The company is targeting 50 per cent sales growth at Rs 2,500 crore in the air-conditioner (AC) segment by the end of 2010 (It follows January-December accounting year). LG, which currently holds a market share of 29 per cent in the AC segment, aims to take it up to 32 per cent by the end of the calendar year.

ACs currently account for almost 14 per cent of the company’s total sales. Rural markets account for almost Rs 250 crore of the total AC sales at present and the figure was likely to grow to Rs 500 crore next year. LG’s rural sales are less than 10 per cent now but we expect it to grow to 20 per cent by 2012. The strategy will be to graduate a desert cooler customer to an AC buyer by offering a sub Rs 10,000/AC, further added by the company official.