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SONY Philippines Inc. said Friday that it sees smaller growth this
year after inflation spiked to a multi-year record.
Toshiya Kagita, president of the local
unit of the Japan-based electronics giant, said the company can
manage to post double-digit growth, but expansion would be slower
than the original target. He however provided no figures.
Kagita also said Sony has no plan of raising
prices, adding the company’s prospects with high inflation this
year are “not as good as we expected earlier.”
“Prices of power, oil and water are higher
than last year, that’s why we’re seeing slower growth but still
at a double-digit level,” he told reporters.
Despite the slower growth projection, Kagita
said Sony Philippines still expects to double its sales of
high-definition laptops and digital cameras.
From April to March this year, the company
registered a 10-percent growth year on year with P4.4 billion in
gross sales, the executive said.
The digital and video cameras segment accounted
for the bulk of Sony’s sales at around 30 percent.
Kagita said Sony will expand its market presence
this year while focusing on three main products—its liquid-crystal
display TV, Bravia, its digital camera Cybershot and the personal
laptop Vaio
Sony currently has a 30-percent share of the
Philippines’ A and B markets.
Kagita said Filipinos increasingly view owning a
computer as a necessity, whereas the car remains a luxury.
He said Sony will aggressively sell its laptops,
beginning with the opening of four Vaio notebook computer stores in
the country this year.
-- Chino S. Leyco
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