Sony Middle East and Africa (MEA) has unveiled a new business strategy that aims to increase its regional presence and grow business by 20 percent in 2017.
According to the company, the new managing director Taro Kimura will achieve this vision through new product launches and a refreshed business development strategy that will place Sony and its business partners in a strong position to gain market share in the company’s focus categories, which are television, digital imaging and audio products. Sony MEA is looking to grow television sales by 26 percent, audio product sales by 11 percent and achieve a 52 percent sales growth in its interchangeable lens camera business in 2017.
“To achieve our ambitious plans, we are re-engineering our operations and evolving strategies based on data and facts. We are aligning priorities, KPIs, processes and in-market execution plans both within Sony and in our business partner establishments in the region. Our aim is to present a powerful united front in the retail space. This will enable us to offer our customers the best experiences with our innovative products and encourage them to appreciate their unique value,” said Kimura.
The company said leading change in the television category will be Sony’s first BRAVIA OLED TV A1 Series, scheduled to launch in the Middle East in July 2017.
“Television is our key driver for business growth and our product strategy of best picture quality, design and usability remains unchanged,” said Kimura. “The BRAVIA OLED A1 Series will be a new addition to an array of best in class televisions that will expand from 23 models in 2016 to 37 models in 2017, offering customers a wider choice.”
The ambitious growth expectations in the interchangeable lens camera are spurred by the overwhelming acceptance of the company’s flagship Alpha 7 series by photography and videography professionals.
Kimura added, “The strength of Sony is that we develop all key camera components in-house. Sony is the world’s largest Image Sensor supplier. In order to achieve highest resolution, highest sensitivity, fastest speed and most reliable image stabilisation, we continuously develop ever-more advanced image sensors, image processors, lenses and software algorithms. Sony today offers a selection of 24 lenses all of which are High Resolution compatible. No other camera manufacturer offers such an extensive range of high resolution lenses since legacy lenses are not high resolution and future compatible.”
Headphones, wireless speakers and sound bars will be the main contributors to business growth in the audio category revealed the company.
“The launch of the MDR-1000X industry-leading noise-cancelling headphones was a breakthrough for Sony, and we expect sales of this product alone to increase 5 fold in 2017,” said Kimura. “Supplementing the MDR-1000X will be the widest range of headphones and earphones that will meet all the types of usage such as in-ear, overhead, microphone function, Bluetooth and noise-cancelling,” he added.
