Sony Mobile Communication International Taiwan Branch yesterday said it would focus on the higher-margin, high-end smartphone market to maintain profits.
“We will focus our resources on smartphones priced above NT$15,000 instead of launching several models in the mid to low-end price range of the smartphone market,” Sony Mobile Taiwan general manager Jonathan Lin (林志遠) told reporters on the sidelines of the firm’s launch of its flagship Sony Xperia Z3 Plus.
Even after nine months on the market, the previous flagship, the Xperia Z3, last month remained the No. 1 Android smartphone priced at NT$15,000 or more, proving Sony’s smartphone strategy is effective, Lin said.
Photo: CNA
“This is one of the reasons we chose to unveil this year’s flagship this month instead of in March, as Sony’s strategy is to extend a model’s cycle for as long as possible,” Lin said.
It is difficult to promote smartphones if a firm launches too many models at different prices, because they might poach demand from each other, Lin said.
“It is better to concentrate resources on a specific price range and a few models,” Lin said, adding that vendors would find it easier to promote Sony handsets.
Sony expected the product cycle of the previous flagship to be 12 months, longer than the average cycle for Android smartphones of six months, Lin said.
The smartphone market is declining this year, Lin said, adding that new flagship models from Sony’s peers could not boost shipments worldwide.
“We have our own tempo and for Sony, the most important thing is to maintain profitability across the board,” Lin said.
The Japanese firm last year sold its Vaio PC brand to Japan Industrial Partners Inc, an exit from the sector amid a reconstruction.
The global smartphone market is forecast to grow 11.3 percent this year to 1.45 billion units from last year, International Data Corp (IDC) said in a report on Tuesday, down from 27.6 percent last year and 38 percent the previous year.
The market tracker said the estimated cooling in the global market is mainly due to a demand slowdown in China, which has seen declining shipments in the first quarter of this year.
IDC said overall smartphone shipments are to grow by a compound annual growth rate of 8.2 percent to 1.93 billion units in 2019, thanks to robust growth in markets such as India, Indonesia, the Middle East and South Africa.
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