Pune, Aug 21: SONY India Ltd, the 100 per cent subsidiary of the Japan-based Sony Corporation, will introduce new products and upgrade existing models to combat the grey market. It will also give a new thrust to its 21-inch, lower end colour television (CTV) sets to enlarge market share, company managing director Yoshio Kubo said.Kubo, who was in Pune to launch a product display exercise, Sony Vision, told reporters that the company will begin the manufacture of large screen sized television sets (29-inches) at its Darukhera plant in Haryana. In addition, it will launch several new audio products next month and, around December, its top-selling digital `Play Station' with a 41-inch projection television screen. Other product launches include a wider range of cordless telephones.
Sony India has targeted a turnover of Rs 500 crore for the current year, of which 60 per cent is expected to be generated through CTVs, 30 per cent from audio products and the balance 10 per cent from what Kubo termed `Sony-like" products including video cameras. The new products launched this year, along with those that are expected to be launched, will contribute 80 per cent of the turnover.
The company, at present, has a meagre 6 per cent share in the CTV market while its share of the audio and CD players is 60 per cent. Kubo said the grey market, which is bigger in the higher-end products, will be tackled by Sony's strategy of introducing product upgrades and constantly adding new features to existing models. After Sony's official entry into the domestic market, sale of smuggled products with the same brand name has increased, he added.
Sony India exported 40,000 units of 21-inch CTVs during 1997-98 and has targeted 60,000 for the current year. Kubo added that although `Made in India' was not considered of the highest quality, in reality the models meant for the Indian market were `tough.' This was because products had to be transported over long distances and bad roads meant that goods had to be made tough to withstand this.
CTVs manufactured at Daruhera have an indigenisation level of between 30 and 35 per cent, since there are no Indian picture tube manufacturers, which accounts for 50 per cent of material costs. For audio products, this level is about 40 per cent. He admitted that they were going slow on indigenisation in order to maintain quality standards.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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