Sony looks to increase its Mena market share with new cameras
Electronic giant expecting 20%-30% growth as it introduces new line of products
Dubai: Sony is looking to boost its Mena region market share in camera products with the launch of its new line.
Sony currently holds 30 per cent of the market in camera products in the UAE. In Qatar its market share is 45 per cent, in Iran 35 per cent, in Saudi Arabia 45 per cent and in Lebanon 30 per cent, officials said at a press briefing yesterday.
According to Osamu Miura, managing director at Sony Gulf, with this new product line they are hoping to double or triple their Mena market share. "The camera market share is now is 10 per cent. We are looking to increase it to 20-30 per cent," said Miura.
The new line includes the Alpha SLT-A77, the world's fastest 12fps full resolution continuous shooting camera, and the Alpha NEX-7, NEX-5N and NEX-C3 for photographers to capture DSLR stills and video with interchangeable lenses. Last year, Sony Gulf achieved $1.8 billion (Dh6.61 billion) in sales in the Mena region. Between March and April last year they saw a 1.8 per cent increase in sales. This year, they are expecting a 10 to 15 per cent growth.
Miura said sales in the UAE are stable and Sony is expecting growth especially during the Shopping Festival and from women customers.
"We've started seeing the trend of more women buying cameras in Japan, Europe and Saudi Arabia, A lot of ladies are very much interested in this segment so we are focusing our marketing on them as well," Miura told Gulf News.
According to Miura, their factories in Japan are back to full capacity.
"Between March and September time our factories in Japan were affected. Out of our 25 factories in Japan, eight were affected. Now we don't have any issue for the production. Countries are demanding certificates to confirm that the products have no radiation so we've already given the certificates for the importation of each country," he said. In the video camera market, Sony holds a bigger market share with their brand Handycam. In the UAE it has a 45 per cent market share, in Qatar 55 per cent, in Iran 65 per cent, Saudi Arabia 70 per cent and in Lebanon 45 per cent. Sony's camera and video product range include Cyber-shot, Handycam and Alpha.
