India to be in Sony's list of top five market soon, says global chief

Sony, the Japanese consumer electronics giant, has prepared a plan to make India among its top five global markets in terms of revenue. Currently, India is among the top 10 of its markets, with annual revenue of Rs 5,700 crore.

Speaking after inaugurating a centre of excellence for the company here, Howard Stringer, chairman, president and chief executive officer, said: “India will be among the top five markets for Sony in a few years. Sony in India is growing at 50 per cent per annum in terms of revenue and we intend to keep this pace of growth going.”

He said the key to this growth would be from three-dimensional (3D) technology-based products. Sony is targeting annual sales of about $12 billion from 3D-related products by the end of financial year 2012-13 across the world. “3D is an important technology, it captures the reality around us. It is not about special effects,” said Stringer

As for India, he said Sony would be trying to push more of 3D products. “We launched 3D LCDs last year in India. More 3D-capable products will be launched by us, one after the other, in the next two years. By 2012, we are targeting 30 per cent of our revenues to come from 3D products in India.”

The CEO said 3D television was growing faster than high-definition colour TV and the Japanese giant is the only company that generated the entire spectrum of 3D products.

Koreans ahead
Sony had slipped in the Indian market earlier, after Korean giants LG and Samsung. In the flat panel TV market, Samsung was the leader with 31.4 per cent, followed by Sony at 30.8 per cent and LG at close to 25 per cent, between January and December 2010. The two Korean companies have a combined yearly turnover of a little over Rs 32,000 crore, far bigger than Sony’s comparative Rs 5,700 crore.

For Samsung, India will become one of its top three markets in the globe in the next two to three years; the aim is to hit a turnover of $10 billion by 2013, a trebling over 2009-10. LG India is aiming at becoming the number two market in the world for the Korean company by 2015 with a $10 billion, overtaking Korea. About 12 per cent of

LG’s total revenues would then come from India, up from six per cent now. Experts say the big difference has been that both Samsung and LG have invested heavily in India to put up manufacturing facilities, which Sony has not.

Key products from Sony India’s stable include Cybershot cameras, Bravia television sets, VIAO laptops, Sony Handycams, Walkmans and Hi-fi music systems. The company, said Stringer, would soon launch VIAO personal computers in the country. Also in the offing are 4K high-definition cameras for the Indian market, Stringer said.