Sony India targets 33 percent growth

Hyderabad, Sep 4: Sony India Thursday launched its new Bravia series LCD TVs, which are expected to contribute substantially to its turnover of Rs. 40 billion this fiscal.

Masaru Tamagawa, Managing Director, Sony India, told a news conference here that the company was expecting a growth of 33 percent in the current fiscal over last year's turnover of Rs.30 billion.

"The growth from April to August 2008 has been 40 percent over the corresponding period of the last fiscal and we expect a total turnover of Rs.42 billion this fiscal," He said.

Tamagawa said that the Bravia series LCD TVs, especially designed for Indian consumers, provide a combination of high quality images with powerful side speakers for a complete entertainment experience.

The product is available in three models of 19 and 26 inches. It has a built in FM radio as well as highly customable 5-Band Graphic Equaliser. The price ranges from Rs.17,900 to Rs.29,900.

"We designed this model after undertaking a consumer research," he said. India being the fastest growing market for LCD television in the world, Sony India is targeting a sale of 300,000 units this year. The company sold 100,000 Bravia units last year, including 10,000 in Andhra Pradesh.

The LCD TV segment is contributing a third to the overall sales of the company, whose other consumer electronic goods include lap-top computers, digital cameras and home theatres.

Tamagawa pointed out that one million of the 10 million television sets sold globally by Sony were LCDs. The remaining were CRT TVs.

Tamagawa said Sony India had 26 percent share in LCD market in India. It is leading in 32 inch and 40 to 42 inch segments but lagging behind in the 26 inch segment. With the launch of the new models, the company hopes to achieve a leadership position even in 26 inch segment, he said.

--IANS