After dropping the tag of Ericsson post the break up of its joint venture last year, Sony Mobile is planning to shed its premium image with a slew of lesser priced smart phones. Pegged between Rs 8,000 and Rs 10,000, these mobile phones would be a notch lower than existing phones which range between Rs 13,000 and Rs 37,000 for its single brand - Xperia.
Value proposition
Competitors like Samsung, Nokia and HTC already sport smart phones in this price range.
Sony Mobile is willing to drive down price points to enhance its share in the dynamic mobile phone category.
“We believe in giving more options for the Xperia range of smart phones. The new range will be about offering a value proposition to consumers and getting in more first-time users. This will not take away the premium-ness of the brand,” insists Prasun Kumar, Marketing Head, Sony Mobile.
In fact, it is only premium brands like Sony and Apple which do not have smart phones in this price range currently.
Smart phone race
In 2009, Sony moved away from the feature phone segment and lost out on volumes when it entered the smart phone segment. According to its own estimates, it has a 12 per cent share in the smart phone segment, while competitors like Samsung and Nokia are way ahead in the category.
Trying to catch up on market share, Sony Mobile is taking advantage of being part of Sony Corp. It has decided to use the equity of the Sony brand across its parent and sister companies (Sony Music, Sony Entertainment, Sony Television, Sony Pictures) to drive its mobile phone business.
Brand synergy
“It is going to be the ‘Sony-ness’ which is going to be biggest differential for our mobile phones.
“We would be driving synergies from our electronic brands like Playstation (games), Bravia (television), Cybershot (cameras) and Vaio (personal computer) and also using content from sister companies like Sony Music and Sony Entertainment Television for content on our mobile mobiles,” says Kumar.