Sony India on Wednesday said the company targets to achieve Rs 3,500 crore from sales of its Xperia smartphones in the next financial year.
The company launched the latest Xperia Z smartphone at Rs 38,990 that operates on the Android platform and features Sony Walkman technology for audio playback and a battery stamina mode that can help increase back-up up to 50 per cent.
Water and dust resistance is another interesting feature that Sony Xperia Z offers, the company said.
“The launch of Sony Xperia Z is the start of our journey to triple the Xperia sales in India, to Rs 3,500 crore in the coming financial year. The company has taken several steps towards this direction, including tripling the Xperia marketing budget to Rs 300 crore,” Kenichiro Hibi, Managing Director, Sony India said.
He said the investment will be for more than doubling the sales channel counters to 8,000 and increasing the service touch points to 300 by end next financial year.
4G phone in May
The company also said that it will launch its 4G technology-enabled Xperia tablet Z in May.
“The smartphone market in India holds very strong mid-term growth potential, with smartphone sales projected to be around 33 million units by FY13 in India. Our ultimate objective is to position Xperia amongst the top 3 smartphone brands in India,” Dennis Van Schie, Corporate Vice-President, Head of Sales and Marketing, Sony Mobile Communications, said.
The Xperia Z will be available across national retail chain stores, Sony Centres, muliti-brand outlets and distributors across the country from March 12.
Meanwhile, the company also partnered with Sony Music with the new range of Xperia smartphones for a music service that allows consumers to download and stream music from the Sony Music Catalog of two million songs.
This service will be free for the first six months from the date of purchase and consumers can then opt to subscribe to it after the period.
ronendrasingh.s@thehindu.co.in