HindustanTimes.com

Monday, September 22, 2003

Sony says China consumer electronics sales to surge

Reuters
Shanghai, September 18

Japan's Sony Corp said on Thursday it expects consumer electronics sales in
China to quadruple to $4 billion by fiscal 2005, spurred by the launch of
new hi-tech products into the market.

"We intend to achieve this through new product launches. Our sales in the
first four months of this fiscal year have already risen over 50 per cent
compared to the same period last year despite SARS," chairman of the board
for Sony in China Hiroshi Shoda told reporters.

Sales in fiscal 2002 reached $1 billion.

Sony, the world's largest maker of consumer electronics, plans to launch
eight new digital video camcorders, seven digital still cameras and seven
personal computer models on the mainland this fiscal year, Shoda said.

Competition in the $100 billion consumer electronics market is heating up.

The lure is the gold mine of personal entertainment devices. Consumers
continue to snap up items such as digital cameras, MP3 players, and
high-definition TVs -- seen as key growth areas.

© Hindustan Times Ltd. 2003.
Reproduction in any form is prohibited without prior permission