Sony India targets 40 per cent growth in festive season

Sony India is expecting a 40 per cent increase in its sales in the forthcoming festive season particularly in its Bravia range of televisions and has allocated Rs 150 crore as advertising spend during the August-November period to increase its sales.

For the entire year, by allocating a Rs 400 crore advertising and promotional budget, the company expects a 30 per cent sales push where its LED television followed by its audio portfolio will play a major role.

"An already good summer and monsoon backed by the implementation of the 7th Pay Commission will boost demand", Managing Director of Sony India, Kenichiro Hibi said in Kolkata.

Compared to the targeted 40 per cent growth this year, the company had registered a 20 per cent increase in festive sales in 2015.

Sony officials reasoned that the growth rate last year, despite its advertising push, was on account of tepid market conditions which is expected to improve this year.

To improve its sales this year, the company will also offer freebies and gifts with every purchase of Sony products.

The company, which has exited the budget phone segment to focus solely on the mid-premium category is also planning to roll out new models in the Rs 20,000-50,000 price bracket this year to gain market share. Currently, it doesn't enjoy a large pie of market share.

Sony had taken the conscious decision over the smartphones to position itself as a premium mobile phone player which is a new developing category in India. However, this resulted in the company losing its market share considerably.

Hibi says that India is the largest market for mobile phones after China.

According to the IDC Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, the Indian smartphone market revived after declining for two successive quarters by registering 27.5 million units of smartphones shipments in the April-June period of 2016, posting a healthy 17.1 per cent growth over the previous quarter.

Also, it is considering manufacturing of smartphones and other products in India through the outsourced route.

Asked if Sony will harness the opportunity presented through the government's Make in India initiative, Hibi said, "The manufacturing environment is improving in the country. We are discussing the opportunity."

Sony currently assembles its LED televisions in Chennai through the contract manufacturing route and has appointed Taiwan's Foxconn for the job.