Despite its troubles internationally, and its decision to stop selling consumer electronics including televisions in South Africa, Sony remains committed to its local mobile business.
That’s the word from Jason Smith, the vice-president for Sony Mobile Communications in the Middle East and Africa, who spoke to TechCentral in Johannesburg this week.
The company is launching its new high-end Xperia X and midrange XA line of smartphones in South Africa in the coming weeks, Smith said.
“On the mobile side, we are here and investing and continuing. Sony hasn’t forgotten about South Africa.”
In late 2014, Sony announced it was closing is consumer audio-visual business unit in South Africa. The decision means the company no longer sells its TVs, home audio appliances and cameras locally. Sony Mobile and the PlayStation business were not affected.
Sony Mobile’s first new device to be launched in South Africa — it was announced at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in March — is the company’s new top-end model, the Xperia X, which is positioned midway between the Xperia Z5 and the very top-end Z5 Premium, both of which were introduced in 2015.
Smith said the Z series has reached the end of the line, and will be replaced with the Xperia X line-up.
“We are still continuing to sell the Z5 and the Z5 Premium, but X is the new Z,” he said.
Smith said the Xperia X (recommended retail price: R11 999) and two midrange Xperia XA phones also announced at Mobile World Congress (the XA, priced at R5 999, and the phablet-format XA Ultra, costing R7 999) are pivotal in the Japanese company recovering market share lost to Chinese rivals in recent years.
Compared to the 5,2-inch Xperia Z5, the 5-inch Xperia X features a much-improved fingerprint scanner, better camera that includes technology like “predictive hybrid autofocus” from Sony’s Alpha D-SLR cameras, and improved battery technology that promises better long-term performance.
“In 2014, Sony Mobile experienced a lot of challenges because the market changed dramatically overnight,” Smith said. Chinese competitors and a slowing smartphone market put enormous pressure on the unit, he said. But Sony Mobile CEO Hiroki Totoki last year said Sony remained committed to the mobile business and would never sell it or close it down, despite racking up losses.
Totoki told Arabian Business last July:
Smartphones are completely connected to other devices, also connected to people’s lives — deeply. And the opportunity for diversification is huge. We’re heading to the [Internet of things] era and have to produce a number of new categories of products in this world, otherwise we could lose out on a very important business domain. In that sense we will never ever sell or exit from the current mobile business.”
Smith said Sony Mobile decided to stop chasing volumes at all cost, in the process lowering its breakeven point and creating a sustainable operation with fewer overheads. Offices were closed down, with Tokyo established as the single corporate centre.
“By the end of 2015, we had achieved our transformational objectives. That is done. We have forecast we will at least break even in 2016,” he said. “We are laying the building blocks for re-growth … [and are] investing more in research and development.”
Smith said Sony Mobile is now focused on a smaller slice of the market, and will no longer pursue the mass-market, low-cost smartphone segment.
“As a result of the volatility, we considered where we can bring the most value to consumers,” said Smith. “We have Sony Pictures, Sony Music, the camera division, the TV division. We can’t leverage those in an entry-level [smartphone] product, so we will focus on the midrange and premium end of the market. We will fight for our position in those segments.”
The Xperia X will be go on sale in South Africa in the next week through Vodacom and MTN. Telkom is set to follow. There’s no word yet about whether it will be available through Cell C. The Xperia XA will follow a few weeks later, and the 6-inch XA Ultra soon thereafter. — © 2016 NewsCentral Media
