Japanese majors Sony and Panasonic may be struggling overseas thanks
to heightened competition from players such as Samsung and LG, but there
appears to be no signs of fatigue in India as consumers continue to lap
up their products here.
The Osaka-headquartered Panasonic , which makes the Viera brand of TVs besides the Econavi line of air conditioners, will continue pumping in at least Rs 300 crore on an average every year in the Indian market uptil 2015 as it looks to launch new products and take up share in key product categories.
Sony, which recently consolidated its mobile phone business with the company that markets its Vaio laptops, Bravia TVs and Cyber-shot cameras in India, has said that it will triple its investment to Rs 300 crore in mobile phones this fiscal as it seeks to gain a foothold in the burgeoning smartphone market in the country dominated by Samsung, Apple, LG and HTC among others.
Sony is among the top three in players in digital cameras, flat-panel TVs and laptops in India. Panasonic, meanwhile, ranks number three in split-air conditioners after Voltas and LG, while it comes in at number four after Samsung, Sony and LG in flat-panel TVs.
During a recent visit to India, Kazuhiro Tsuga, president & member of the board of directors at Panasonic Corporation, had said that the company would step into areas such as washing machines possibly in this calendar year itself and also increase its portfolio of personal grooming products such as epilators and trimmers as greater disposable incomes prompt Indians to improve their standard of living.
"India without question is a key market for us," Tsuga, who took over as president of Panasonic in June last year, had said. The Japanese company posted a near-record net loss of $7.5 billion (or Rs 40,500 crore) globally for the fiscal ended March 2013, but has said that it will return to profit in the current fiscal as it prunes unprofitable businesses and keeps its attention firmly on emerging markets such as India, where appetite for its products is growing.
Sony, meanwhile, posted its first annual profit globally in five years for the fiscal ended March 31, 2013 mainly on sale of properties than TVs, which fared poorly. Sony's worldwide CEO Kazuo Hirai is counting on the sale of game consoles, cameras and mobile phones to bring its ailing consumer electronics business back on track.
India's contribution to the two Japanese giants' global revenues is about 3 to 5% currently, according to experts tracking the sector. The plan, say industry experts, is to take up this contribution to at least 10% in the next few years as developed markets such as North America, Europe and Japan slow down.
Panasonic is also looking at strategic partnerships in non-consumer electronics such as energy solutions, security and surveillance systems, IT and telecom products in India in a bid to rack up revenues from this vertical, which contributed nearly 35% to its Rs 7,000-crore overall turnover for the fiscal ended March 2012. The Indian unit is yet to declare its numbers for the fiscal ended March 2013.
Sony's India unit, meanwhile, has jumped two places in the pecking order of markets to fourth position in the fiscal ended March 2013 behind the US, China and Japan on the back of double-digit growth, company executives said, in categories such as laptops and flat-panel TVs.
For the fiscal ended March 2012, Sony India had posted sales of Rs 6,313 crore, a growth of 16% over the previous year. Sony is hoping to treble its revenues to Rs 20,000 crore in the next two years, according to the firm's India MD Kenichiro Hibi, who had said earlier that the Indian unit was on track to achieving this.
The Osaka-headquartered Panasonic , which makes the Viera brand of TVs besides the Econavi line of air conditioners, will continue pumping in at least Rs 300 crore on an average every year in the Indian market uptil 2015 as it looks to launch new products and take up share in key product categories.
Sony, which recently consolidated its mobile phone business with the company that markets its Vaio laptops, Bravia TVs and Cyber-shot cameras in India, has said that it will triple its investment to Rs 300 crore in mobile phones this fiscal as it seeks to gain a foothold in the burgeoning smartphone market in the country dominated by Samsung, Apple, LG and HTC among others.
Sony is among the top three in players in digital cameras, flat-panel TVs and laptops in India. Panasonic, meanwhile, ranks number three in split-air conditioners after Voltas and LG, while it comes in at number four after Samsung, Sony and LG in flat-panel TVs.
During a recent visit to India, Kazuhiro Tsuga, president & member of the board of directors at Panasonic Corporation, had said that the company would step into areas such as washing machines possibly in this calendar year itself and also increase its portfolio of personal grooming products such as epilators and trimmers as greater disposable incomes prompt Indians to improve their standard of living.
"India without question is a key market for us," Tsuga, who took over as president of Panasonic in June last year, had said. The Japanese company posted a near-record net loss of $7.5 billion (or Rs 40,500 crore) globally for the fiscal ended March 2013, but has said that it will return to profit in the current fiscal as it prunes unprofitable businesses and keeps its attention firmly on emerging markets such as India, where appetite for its products is growing.
Sony, meanwhile, posted its first annual profit globally in five years for the fiscal ended March 31, 2013 mainly on sale of properties than TVs, which fared poorly. Sony's worldwide CEO Kazuo Hirai is counting on the sale of game consoles, cameras and mobile phones to bring its ailing consumer electronics business back on track.
India's contribution to the two Japanese giants' global revenues is about 3 to 5% currently, according to experts tracking the sector. The plan, say industry experts, is to take up this contribution to at least 10% in the next few years as developed markets such as North America, Europe and Japan slow down.
Panasonic is also looking at strategic partnerships in non-consumer electronics such as energy solutions, security and surveillance systems, IT and telecom products in India in a bid to rack up revenues from this vertical, which contributed nearly 35% to its Rs 7,000-crore overall turnover for the fiscal ended March 2012. The Indian unit is yet to declare its numbers for the fiscal ended March 2013.
Sony's India unit, meanwhile, has jumped two places in the pecking order of markets to fourth position in the fiscal ended March 2013 behind the US, China and Japan on the back of double-digit growth, company executives said, in categories such as laptops and flat-panel TVs.
For the fiscal ended March 2012, Sony India had posted sales of Rs 6,313 crore, a growth of 16% over the previous year. Sony is hoping to treble its revenues to Rs 20,000 crore in the next two years, according to the firm's India MD Kenichiro Hibi, who had said earlier that the Indian unit was on track to achieving this.
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