Sony is currently forecast to ship 42 million Xperia smartphones in FY13 (year to March 2014), however Sony’s Chief Executive Officer Kazuo Hirai has ambitious targets going forward. Speaking to The Nikkei, Hirai believes that Sony can double the volumes of smartphones to 80 million units in FY15 (year to March 2016).
He plans to achieve that by focusing and investing in the Chinese and US markets, Kaz hopes to see tangible results in a year. Sony will also offer a broader range of handsets to boost sales (Windows Phone?). High-performance cameras on its handsets will also be a key strategy.
“We’ve built the foundations in Japan and Europe. From now on, we’ll put more resources into the U.S. and Chinese markets. I can’t share detailed plans. But now that we’ve decided to go on the offensive, we’ll put money and people into those markets. I hope you’ll see the results in a year,” said Hirai.
Between FY11 and FY13, Sony is expected to grow smartphone volumes by 87 percent to the current forecast of 42 million units. “We hope to maintain the same growth pace as the past two years,” Hirai said when looking forward to the next two years to FY15.
This will not be an easy task. If Sony hits its 42 million forecast for FY13, this would equate to year-on-year volume growth of 27%. This is coming off a lower base too. To hit the 80 million unit target in FY15 will mean yearly volume growth rates of close to 40%. The targets mean that Sony needs to get serious traction in its new markets (China/US) if it realistically wants to get close.
Via Nikkei Asian Review.
Thanks Hendra!
