Sony plans small screen Bravia for smaller towns

The company set to launch 24-inch 4K Bravia next month

Japanese electronics giant Sony today said that it has plans to introduce smaller screen sizes under its flagship Bravia brand television sets with a starting price of Rs 15,000 this year, mainly to tap the tier-II and tier-III towns that are expected to boost the company’s volume in India.

“There is huge potential left in the smaller cities. We want to approach right customers with right products,” said Sony India Managing Director Kenichiro Hibi.

Sony, which today launched two new models of Bravia with 4K technology priced at Rs 3.04 lakh for 55 inch TV set and Rs 4.04 lakh for 65 inch screen size in India, also has plans to launch 24 inch 4K Bravia TV in India next month. “We are yet to finalise the pricing. But it is likely to be between Rs 50,000 and Rs 60,000,” Hibi said.

Last November, Sony first launched 84 inch 4K Bravia TV set in India which was priced at Rs 17 lakh. “This product could not take off because of price,” Hibi said. So far, Sony has sold just 200 units of the 84 inch 4K Bravia in India.

At present, the entire Bravia range contributes about 35% to Sony India sales. Hibi said Sony India is aiming to sell 13 lakh television sets in the current fiscal compared with 11 lakh sold in previous financial year. It imports all its television from Malaysia for Indian market.

Meanwhile, the company has increased its marketing budget by 66% to Rs 250 crore in 2013-14 from Rs 150 crore a year ago.

The company will add 1,000 more sales channel counters this year to its distribution network of 6000 sales counters. “We have to utilise the distributors to reach smaller towns. Our directions are to go deeper to reach those tier-II markets,” he added.

India currently contributes just about 10% to Sony’s global revenue. Its top three markets are US, China and Japan.

Hibi said Sony will not increase prices of its products immediately even if it is feeling the pinch of the rupee depreciation. “We will not take any decision immediately. We will wait for some time,” he added. Its Korean competitor LG Electronics on Monday has raised prices of consumer durable products by about 3-5% across categories.