Telecom Lead Asia: Sony Mobile — in a strategic shift — is set to alter smartphone development for each market to become the third largest smartphone vendor.
Sony, which aims to win third place in smartphone markets around the world behind Apple and Samsung, needs to compete with both Huawei Technology and ZTE that are looking to become the third big player in mobile devices.
Also, BlackBerry that launched BlackBerry Z10 smartphones and Nokia with Lumia series of phones are trying to take leadership position in emerging markets.
Kunimasa Suzuki, the head of Sony’s mobile business, says that the mobile company will alter smartphone development for each market.
He indicated — at a roundtable briefing in Tokyo — that the Japanese consumer electronics company may produce cheaper models for developing nations.
The earlier plan of Sony was to focus on premium products.
One month back, Sony Mobile, during the Mobile World Congress 2013, reinforced its commitment to the premium smartphone and tablet segments. Kazuo Hirai, president and CEO of Sony Corp., and Kunimasa Suzuki, president and CEO of Sony Mobile and EVP, corporate executive officer of Sony Corp., restated the importance of mobile to Sony’s strategy and declared Sony’s intention to further enhance the premium mobile segment. Additionally, Sony Mobile announced that the highly anticipated Xperia Tablet Z will be available globally, and that its award-winning flagship smartphone, Xperia Z, is available now across 60 countries.
For Sony, special strategy for developing markets is important as Windows phones are catching up in markets like India.
Microsoft recently announced that Windows Phone has shipped more than the iPhone in seven market of the world in the last quarter. These markets, according to IDC, include: Argentina, India, Poland, Russia, South Africa and Ukraine in addition to a group of smaller nations that include Croatia and rest of central and eastern Europe.
In India, the reason for the increased shipments is most likely Nokia increasing its smartphone shipments expecting an increase in demand with the launch of budget handsets such as the Lumia 620.
In January 2013, research agency IDC stated that Sony’s strategy to become the worldwide leader in mobile entertainment combined with its growing portfolio of high-end smartphones drove its smartphone volumes higher throughout the year.
This marks a significant improvement since Sony acquired Ericsson’s stake in 2011 in the Sony Ericsson joint venture. Sony introduced its Xperia TL last quarter and recently announced the addition of the Xperia Z and the Xperia ZL, to be launched in Q1 2013.
The strategy of Sony is similar to ZTE. In Q4 2012, ZTE maintained its spot among the top 5 smartphone vendors globally thanks to continued international diversification efforts last quarter.
The Chinese phone vendor shipped more smartphones than feature phones for the first time. ZTE has grown its smartphone sales of late thanks primarily to an uptick in lower-cost smartphone sales in many emerging markets. The company has traditionally relied on sales of phones to China, where the company is based. Notable progress has been made in developed markets too.
Arvind Krishna
editor@telecomlead.com
