Reference Auto

Sony, which was dislodged by Samsung Electronics of Korea as the world’s top electronics maker, is trying its luck in the Indian market again with a litany of new smartphones (Xperia series) and Sony’s moderate pricing could prompt buyers to opt for these extremely smart-looking  handsets.

Priced between Rs 17,399 and Rs 25,449, the three smart devices - Xperia U, Xperia P and Xperia Sola - have been designed for the youths and executives on the move for a litany of services and applications through the internet and television channels.

Sony Xperia U comes with a 3.5 inch scratch-resistant TFT touchscreen that has a resolution of 854 x 480 pixels and is propelled by a 1 GHz STE U8500 dual-core processor.

The smartphone runs on Google Android 2.3 operating system. There’s a 5 megapixel camera along with auto focus, 16x digital zoom as well as LED flash. The phone offers 8 GB internal memory and 512 MB RAM. It is priced at Rs 17,400.

Sony Xperia Sola comes with a 1 GHz dual-core processor. The smartphone has a 3.7 inch scratch-resistant TFT touchscreen and 5 megapixel camera with auto focus and LED flash.

The 8 GB internal storage with microSD memory card slot can be expanded up to 32 GB. It carries a price tag of Rs 20,449.

Sony Xperia P has a 1 GHz U8500 dual-core processor and a 4-inch scratch-resistant TFT touchscreen with a resolution of 960 x 540 pixels. It runs on Google Android 2.3 OS. The Xperia P has 8 megapixel camera and auto focus, 8x digital zoom and LED flash. The phone has internal storage of 16 GB, and 1 GB RAM. It is priced at Rs 26,799.

India’s market is witnessing a change, and even though customers flock for cheap products, they are slowly getting status conscious also. This price range of about Rs 20,000 could be ideal not only for the “brand conscious” but also the burgeoning middle class people who could lap up these products quite easily.

However, competition in the Rs 20,000 smartphone category is intense with Samsung and Nokia being the top two players. There are also home-grown companies like Micromax, which is present in the ultra-low category segment (That is, phones which are priced below Rs 5,000).

So, there are enough players who could dampen Sony’s India strategy on smartphones if the Japanese major does not turn aggressive.

“Our new devices are an indication of the brand’s commitment to Indian users, especially the youth, young professionals and upward-mobile persons who would like to stay connected always and access a gamut of services such as voice, data and digital forms,” Sony Mobile marketing head Prasun Kumar said.

To promote the handsets, the Indian arm of Sony has tied up with Tata Teleservices to provide free data services up to 3 GB on Tata Docomo as well as around 30 games.

Sony is a well known brand and a little marketing push could do the trick. Even the pricing is okay, and with a brand promotion, Sony could ramp up sales as well as presence in the Indian market substantially.