Harman eyes $1 billion from midmarket infotainment

By S. John Tilak

BANGALORE (Reuters) - Harman International Industries Inc is targeting $1 billion in revenue from the global midmarket for infotainment systems in five years, its CEO said.

The company, whose brands include Harman Kardon, JBL, Mark Levinson and Infinity, has historically focused on the luxury market.

However, with in-car infotainment systems, which offer a combination of audio, video and communications services, increasingly finding their way into less-expensive vehicles, the company is only too keen to grab a slice of that market.

"The midmarket opportunity worldwide is $5 billion," Chief Executive Dinesh Paliwal said in an interview with Reuters. "We want 20 percent of that market in five years."

The company, which on Thursday posted a narrower-than-expected first-quarter loss, said Toyota Motor Corp has selected Harman's infotainment on Toyota vehicles sold in Europe, beginning in 2011.

"We are the first non-Japanese company to achieve an infotainment order from a Japanese car manufacturer," Paliwal said.

Harman's lineup of blue-chip customers includes Audi/Volkswagen, BMW and Daimler.

The company could return to year-over-year quarterly revenue growth as early as its fiscal third quarter ending next March, Paliwal said.