Japanese manufacturer Sony has finally realised that its global smartphone strategy won’t work in the Indian market and it needs to bring products that actually cater to what most consumers in the country are looking for. Thus, it is planning to introduce India-only entry-level smartphones in the coming months.
“Indian business is completely different from global operations because it is one of the few countries growing at a rapid pace, even faster than China. Hence, it would require a separate strategy. For instance, in smartphones, Sony may not globally have models in the Rs 8,000-10,000 range, but we have to launch such models in India to survive in this tough market where there are almost 100 smartphone brands,” Sony India MD Kenichiro Hibi told ET Techrecently.
Hibi did not share any details about the upcoming smartphones, but we hope to hear from the company in the coming months.
Entry-level price-segment has become quite active in the recent quarters and the manufacturers have understood the importance of budget phones. Earlier, only Indian smartphone vendors used to bring decent smartphones in the price-segment, but for the last few quarters, we are seen a number of new entrants like Xiaomi, Asus, Lenovo and Motorola. Looks like Sony will be joining them soon.
At the same time Sony has updated its operating profit forecast for the 2015 fiscal year, bringing the number up to JPY 300 billion. That translates to $2.52 billion and is four times as much as previous company estimates
The reason for the improved figures lies in expectations for higher sales of display sensors for mobile phones, as well as better market performance of the Playstation gaming console. The corporation's smartphone business is not the driving factor though, and persistent reports claim the division may soon be put up for sale.
The ongoing restructuring of the company, however, is finally showing results and Sony will attempt to put behind its back several years in the red, brought about by dwindling smartphone and TV sales.
