Sony Mobiles has decided to phase out its feature phones in India by September. Its focus will be on the smartphone segment only. Accordingly, it recently launched three new Xperia handsets (its smartphone) across the country.

While handsets are yet to pick up market share, Sony has tied up with operators for bundling of data.

In an interview to Business Line , Mr P. Balaji, the company's Managing Director, talks about the mobile phone business in India, its branding activities and how it plans to gain market share. Excerpts. Sony has announced that it would phase-out feature phones. Don't you think you would be losing a large market in India?

As of today 10 per cent by volume and 45 per cent by value (of the Indian handset market) is smartphones. It is expected to grow in the future. In my point of view it's a good space to be in. Other companies would address other things. I feel we have done the right thing.

Sony Mobiles lags behind in market share when it comes to smartphones. How do you plan to ramp it up?

(The lagging behind is) More so because the smartphone market in India is growing and there is obviously a need to invest, rather than otherwise. If we look at the last three quarters, Sony grew faster than the market. Other than the look-and-feel of the handset, Sony makes sure that it works on multiple dimensions such as relevance, content and applications. This apart, we are working consciously on distribution.

Can you share distribution plans?

We have over 1,000 in-store promoters in order to make sure that Sony smartphones can be explained to consumers who come to stores. We are doing that to make sure that propositions of different models are made known to consumers.

Sony is also working closely with the operators. We have done co-branding (bundling offers) and co-marketing and are working with them on corporate road shows. We have tie-ups (bundling) with Airtel, Aircel, Docomo and Reliance for data bundling plans.

How do you plan to brand your handsets?

On the brand side you will see that in the last three quarters we have launched an ATL (above-the-line advertising) campaign. We think it's important for users to see the Sony Xperia smartphone brand across on television and outdoor campaigns. On the digital media platform too, we are making investments.

Currently, the mobile operating system fight is between Windows, Android and Apple. Where does Sony fit into this?

We have consciously decided to focus on Android. Globally and in India, Android is more than 55 per cent of the market.

In terms of market share, we are number 2 in Android (using the Android operating system). We think it is a smart choice and allows us access to rich suite of applications.

On the mobile business side, are there any organisational changes or job cuts after the acquisition of Ericsson?

The only thing that happened was our Global CEO taking on the role of Chairman of Sony mobiles. What was called Sony Ericson Mobile Communications became Sony Mobile Communications, a fully-owned subsidiary of Sony.

A very senior executive of the Sony Group, who was earlier heading the Vaio group, has taken over as the CEO of Sony Mobile Communications. But there were no job cuts. We, in fact, added some 200-odd jobs.

Any India-specific manufacturing plans?

No, nothing at the moment. But we never say yes or a no. The economics has to make sense. Sony recently entered into the tablet PC segment with Sony Tablets.

Are you looking for synergies with the other Sony businesses?

The tablets have been launched. We are collaborating along all the entities including the entity that has made the tablets. Clearly, wherever the opportunities to collaborate come up, we will continue to explore them.

> abhishek.l@thehindu.co.in

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