For some time now, the market has been abuzz with rumours of Sony launching its Android Honeycomb based tablets S1 and S2 in India soon. On Wednesday, Sony India Managing Director Mr Masaru Tamagawa confirmed the launch of a tablet, though he refused to divulge any more details.
“Sony’s tablet will be launched very soon – definitely this year,” he said. Sony has been posting teaser videos of its tablets on its official India website.
Mr Tamagawa was speaking at an event in Delhi to unveil Sony India’s new Bravia line up of LED television sets. All the 15 models launched were internet enabled, nine of them Full HD and nine of them 3D offerings, signalling the way the television market is moving.
The migration from conventional picture tube television sets to flat panels was chugging along, the Sony India chief confirmed, with LCD and LED both seeing high adoption rates. From an overall 2.7 million units of flat panel TVs sold last fiscal, he said we could expect to see 4 million units sold this fiscal. Sony India hopes to sell 1.2 million units this fiscal, keeping its 30 per cent leadership marketshare in flat panel TV segment intact, he said.
Sony India has also made the entry level pricing of its 3D TV offering cheaper – last year, for instance, Sony’s entry level 3D TV model – a 40 inch set - was priced over Rs 1 lakh. Now, it has launched a 32 inch 3D TV offering for Rs 57,900.
Mr Tamagawa said that the Bravia range would continue to Sony India’s main dish in India. The television business contributes 35 per cent (in value terms) to Sony’s India revenues, laptops (its Vaio range) contributes 20 per cent, digital imaging (cameras) 15 per cent, while the rest of its business which includes audio, home theatre and playstation contributes the remaining 30 per cent. The biggest category for us is Bravia with a year on year growth of 50 per cent, he said.
Sony has recently slashed the price of its gaming device Playstation by nearly 15 per cent. From August 19, PS3 160 GB has been made available for Rs 19,900 as opposed to earlier rate of Rs 16,990, while the 320 GB version has seen a price drop from Rs 23,490 to Rs 19,990.