Sony India forays into IT peripherals market

By siliconindia staff writer   |   Tuesday, 05 October 2004, 19:30 IST
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NEW DELHI: To expand its product profile in India, Sony announced on Tuesday its entry into IT peripherals market which, it hopes, would contribute 20 per cent to the Rs 1,600 crore targeted turnover for fiscal 2006. The company, which has closed down almost the entire consumer durables manufacturing at its Indian subsidiary, will be relying on imports for the new products as well. "Sony India sees enormous potential in the Indian B2B market and thus will launch an entire portfolio of products including TFT monitors, plasma monitors, LCD projectors, PC speakers and storage media devices," senior manager - marketing (consumer marketing division) Katsuhiko Murase told newspersons. The company does not plan to start with separate outlets for the new products, but will use 'Sony World' outlets for sales and direct customer contact. "The range of B2B products will be supported by Sony India's national service support with qualified product technicians who have been specially trained to service the entire range," Murase said. He said the marketing initiative would involve individual doorstep promotions as well as large corporate roadshows. The company said it would also tap IT channels and distributors through a three-tier loyalty programme to drive a wider reach. Sony India, a fully-owned subsidiary of of Japan's Sony Corp, is looking to clock a Rs 1,200 crore turnover this financial year against Rs 800 crore last fiscal. Sony India product head (IT products) Sachin Thapar said the products would be "competitively priced" against existing players. "We are not looking at a big gap between the prices of the existing products in the market and our products, though Sony products can be higher by about 10 per cent or so," Thapar said. Murase said Sony India will drive business growth by expanding presence in existing segments and also entering newer ones where the company can leverage its global product strengths. In the consumer durables segment, Sony sells products like colour TVs, plasma TVs, hi-fi audio systems, digital cameras and handycams in India.