Sonodyne International Ready For Overseas Splash

Sonodyne International, which exports speakers to original equipment manufacturers in around 40 nations in Australia, Europe and America, will be launching its products under the brand umbrella -- Sonodyne -- in the overseas market.

Anindya Mukherjee, vice-president, marketing, Sonodyne, said: "At the International Funk Austellang (IFA), Berlin, Sonodyne shall be the only Indian representation in the hi-fi segment."

The company will be displaying new products such as the Genie series of aluminium die-cast loud speakers and the Roarr series of powdered sub-woofers.

A combination of Roarr and Genie for music (stereo) range from Rs 15,000 to Rs 1,00,000 and a combination of Roarr and Genie for home theatre range from Rs 30,000 to Rs 2,00,000.

 

Mukherjee said, the range shall also be shortly available in India through special listening rooms and dedicated Sonodyne dealers. However, the domestic launch would depend on the success of the products in the overseas market.

Mukherjee explained, "It is important to establish the brand in the overseas market before the launch in the brand-conscious Indian market, where 70 per cent of the products in this category are foreign brands and from the gray market. The gray market is controlled by 200-250 operators.

Sonodyne International spends 15-20 per cent of its turnover on research and development. The company also received a grant from the department of electronics. The company attributes its reasonable pricing vis-a-vis foreign brands due to the low labour cost in India.

These products are a departure from the company's earlier products in the 70s and 80s of professional audio and powerful electronic equipments. Sonodyne backed out from the segment in view of increasing competition from the multinational companies in the 90s. Mukherjee said, the company has no plans of re-entering the segment.