(5 February 2008 4:00 pm)

MUMBAI: Bose Corporation India, the India arm of the global major in sound systems, has unveiled two of its latest Lifestyle V-Class home theatre systems.

Both the systems, Lifestyle V20 and V30, deliver premium 5.1 surround sound for movies, music and gaming.

Each system includes five small speaker arrays, a hideaway media console, an Acoustimass module, radio frequency remote control and a standalone display. (Acoustimass is a technology based on delivering high definition, high volume sound from small speakers.)

Unveiling the products to the media, Bose Corporation India GM Ratish Pandey explained that the new systems are capable of handling four input systems simultaneously, adding that a single system is capable of producing music in 14 additional rooms in the same premise. This is because of the company's key technology "Bose Link" built into the system.

Pandey, who is an executive member of the company's elite management structure, the Bose Asia Management Team, said also that a single switch on the remote can handle audio-video changes and there is no need to use multiple switches for that.

In addition, the new system can recalibrate to produce optimum sound for a new acoustic environment.

Pandey explained, "If you have linen-upholstered, wooden furniture today and then later change to a steel and glass environment, the system can be calibrated to produce optimum sound quality for those new settings."

The Lifestyle V30 will be priced at Rs 191,138 and the Lifestyle V20 at Rs 129,263, including taxes.

With 16 stores (seven flagship stores and nine "experience outlets") in nine cities across India, the corporation's activity is going to increase, Pandey assured, but did not specify any roadmap.

When asked about its customer profile, Pandey said that Bose India realises that its customers are changing with increase in the buying power of the younger generation.

Bose's products can broadly be categorised into two groups - Home Products and Professional Products.

"We have seen a growth in the home products segment in the country in the recent past. It now accounts for 66 per cent of our sales revenue," Pandey said.

He also said that Bose plans to market the products primarily through print advertisement and that the products will be available in the market by the end of February. However, the products will be available only in the company's own stores.

"Retail chains, as it stands now, won't be able to do justice to our products," said Pandey, adding, "They may not be able to create the mood required for a customer to actually experience the sound quality we produce."

With annual sales of $ 2.5 billion, Bose Corporation claims to be reinvesting 100 per cent of its profits in R&D. As of now, the company has only one R&D facility located in Massachusetts, USA.

Pandey also admitted that India and China are the potential future markets for the company.

Although all of the company's IT outsourcing is done in India and some contract manufacturing in China, the company does not have a plant in either of the countries so far.

Pandey said that in terms of marketing, they would look at the company's traditional tool, print medium, but refused to give details of the advertisement budget.