As per sources, the Japanese electronics company, Sony, has made some changes in its mobile phone business team. The company has adopted this strategy to climb up to the second position in the country. It has also lined up 30 new launches in this fiscal.
Sony has appointed Taro Yamamoto who was previously heading the car audio division, as the new Head for Mobile Phones business, while the erstwhile head Tadato Kimura is moving to Sony Europe.
The sales for the mobile business will be steered by Vijay Singh Jaiswal, while marketing will be headed by Sachin Dev Rai. Rai was heading both Sales & Marketing for a brief period, before which he was heading marketing for the Bravia television business. The company will infuse Rs.350 crore each into the smartphone and flagship television businesses. This is the first time the marketing budget will be equal for both the categories, according to Sony India Managing Director Kenichiro Hibi.
About 10–15% of the total revenue of Rs.10,000 crore in 2013-14 of Sony came from its mobility section. The company expects smartphones to contribute almost 40% in 2014-15 of the targeted total revenue of Rs.12,000 crore.
The brand is currently the third-largest smartphone brand by value after Samsung and Micromax. Sony will expand its smartphone retail presence to more than 12,000 dealers and also set up 500 exclusive brand stores, christened Xperia Stores, in 2014-15.
