NIGERIA’S Electronics market where Samsung and LG Electronics are the major players presently would soon witness some earth-shaking rumbles as global market leader, Sony, is poised to execute her extensive blueprint for expansion across the African continent.
Defined by a rigorous 360degree immersion plan, Sony unveiled to about 40 journalists from 32 African countries at a cozy atmosphere in Cape Town, South Africa, a three-pronged plan to transform the African consumers’ experience in the electronics sector. The focus of this new plan include an aggressive channeling of the latest technology products into the African market, introducing experiential Sony brand stores, and setting up authorised service centres in almost every country in Africa.
On the operational front, Sony plans to establish new zonal offices in Morocco, Ghana, Nigeria and Angola, employing local human resources and identifying new business partners with the capacity to compliment the Sony growth strategy in Africa.
These revelations were also made at an exclusive dealers’ conference in Cape Town, South Africa, where Sony highlighted to her top distributors the company’s global ambitions and the significance it places on Africa in the international marketplace.
Speaking at the conference, Managing Director, Sony Middle East and Africa, Hiroyasu Sugiyama revealed that Sony has set a three-year target to achieve US$1.4 billion market share in Africa’s consumer electronics industry. In Sugiyama’s words, “Africa is undoubtedly one of the most important markets for Sony. By 2015, we hope to achieve a $1.4 billion share in the consumer electronics space, including the fast-growing mobile phone business. The numbers certainly look exciting, but our immediate focus is to identify tactics that help us move towards our target. The Sony roadmap for Africa constitutes a four-pillared strategy based on product, customer, community, and operation.”
Recognising the demand for its top-of-the-line products in local markets, Sugiyama revealed that Sony would synchronise its international launches to include the African continent in its entirety. “From the award-winning Sony Xperia Z smartphone, the XPERIA tablet and the BRAVIA 4K TVs to the world’s most powerful audio system, the Shake 7 stereo, Sony will look to reduce the wait-time and increase the availability of its products, especially those tailored for African consumers,” he explained.
Incidentally, a recent study has revealed that Sony stands number one in the audio products category in Africa, commanding a market share of over 40 per cent. In South Africa alone, one in two customers seeking audio products opt for Sony.
Looking to transform the experiential prospects for African consumers, Sony is also set to roll out its unique branded stores, Sony World, in key markets to give potential buyers a chance to see and feel the unmatched quality of its products. The first of these open-display stores has been successfully launched in the Ivory Coast.
Journalists invited to the special media conference in Cape Town were taken on a guided tour of what the open display stores would showcase at each location. For more than three hours, the journalists had the unique opportunity of being among the first people on the continent to see and feel different quality products Sony was about releasing into the continental market.
At the event, it was obvious that Sony’s attention to quality does not end at the point of sales, as the brand announced it would launch 67 authorised service centres in Africa this year, which will be increased to 87 centres by March 2014.
Sugiyama added: “Africa is a vast continent, and we understand that it is made up of different and diverse countries with many languages and cultures that require localised communication. We are moving fast to satisfy these requirements and preferences through vehicles such as a multi-lingual Sony website in Africa’s predominant languages including French, Portuguese, English and Arabic. We are also looking to launch a dedicated Sony Facebook page for Africa.”
Over the years, Sony has extensively engaged with the African community with campaigns that propose the company’s goal to work ‘With Africa’ as opposed to ‘For Africa’. These include initiatives such as the South Africa Mobile Library Project in partnership with a non-profit organisation, South African Primary Education Support Initiative (SAPESI). In addition, Sony has partnered with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Global Fund to Fight AIDS, and Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) to implement highly successful public cinema-viewing projects in Tanzania, Ghana and Cameroon.
Other community support projects include Folktales in Malawi, a joint initiative with the Malawi National Commission for United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and the Global Future Charitable Trust (GFCT), to protect and preserve the heritage of intergenerational story telling in print and audio formats. The widespread Eye See Digital Photo Project headed by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) was additionally extended to children in Rwanda, Liberia, Madagascar, South Africa, Ethiopia, Mali, and Tunisia to give them a voice of expression through photography.
Speaking on Sony community initiatives, Sugiyama said: “We at Sony believe that we must be a part of the local community wherever we do business. Ever since its inception in 1946, Sony has endeavored to provide amazing entertainment experiences through our products that inspire and fulfill our consumers’ curiosity. We continue to replicate this guiding philosophy that is embedded in our DNA across all the community-focused initiatives that we deliver globally.”
Sony Middle East and Africa is a 100 per cent subsidiary of Sony Corporation. The company is in charge of Sony Corporations’ activities in the Middle East and Africa regions. In more than 40 countries, the company handles the business activities involving Sony Consumer Electronics, VAIO laptop computers, Computer Peripherals, Data media, Recording Media and Energy (Batteries), Mobile Electronics (Car Audio) and Computer Entertainment (PlayStation) products. Apart from stock operations in the Jebel Ali Free Zone Establishment in Dubai, Sony Middle East and Africa leads execution of various logistics, sales, marketing, advertising and customer services activities through its business partners and representative offices. A representative office in Kenya and Pakistan, in addition to 497 accredited third party service centres reinforces Sony’s presence in key markets in the region.
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