Sony launches innovative new smartphones and tablets

Business is a combination of war and sport.   —André Maurois

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.  â€”Winston Churchill

JAKARTA, Indonesia — No leader or successful organization should be content with resting on laurels of the past, as entrepreneurs, professionals, and even top-notch corporations like the global tech and media multinational Sony Corporation of Japan can attest to. The constant challenge to leaders and firms is how to keep on reinventing, enhancing competitiveness, changing or removing weaknesses and boosting brand equity.

What are the strategies of Sony Corp. and its 150,000 employees worldwide in their quest for continued global competitiveness, which we can also learn from?

1. Create product innovations. Whatever goods or services we’re selling, let’s innovate nonstop.

On March 5 at Hotel Mulia in Jakarta City, the Philippine STAR was invited to witness Sony Mobile Communications officially launch its innovative Xperia line of smartphones and tablets for the Southeast Asia and Oceania market, led by head of Asia-Pacific and corporate vice president Matthew Lang and director of marketing for Southeast Asia and Oceania Jason Smith.

The two officials declared 2014 to be a transformational year that will be “bigger, bolder and better.” Sony introduced new products such as the waterproof Xperia Z2, the world’s slimmest and lightest waterproof tablet, which also has the world’s first digital noise-cancelling technology; the mid-range Xperia M2 and SmartBand SWR10.

To manifest its dynamic competitive spirit, Sony launched the Xperia Z2 just six months after it introduced its Sony Xperia Z1 at the Internationale Funkausstellung, or IFA radio exhibition 2013 in Berlin.

The new Sony Xperia Z2 waterproof phone has a full, high-definition 5.2-inch screen and a 20.7-megapixel camera that can take ultra-high resolution 4K video, along with noise-cancelling audio.

Sony also entered the market for wearable devices, releasing the SmartBand SWR10, a bracelet that comes with an application allowing users to log events and photographs taken during the day as well as tracking how far they walk and checking their sleep cycle.

2. Strengthen and clarify brand focus. Boost awareness of brand and clear market niche.

Sony Philippines is scheduled to sell its Xperia M2 by the end of April with a suggested retail price of P13,990, making it one of the most reasonably priced LTE-capable handsets in the Philippines.

When asked if Sony wants to compete head-on with the numerous brands selling much cheaper mobile phones in the Philippine market, Lang replied, “I think there’s always a place for brands like Sony, Coca-Cola, BMW and Mercedes-Benz, which are still loved by others. There will always be space on the low-end and entry-level part of the mobile phones market, but it is difficult to make profits in that market. There’s also the challenge of sustainability in that segment. At Sony, we want to be the alternative premium smartphone; we think that is our strength and we want to focus on that.”

3. Invest more in marketing . There should be no end to sustained marketing efforts, whether for established brands or lesser-known brands.

Sony Mobile executives told the STAR that they’re determined to invest more in marketing to make consumers more aware of their smartphones and tablets, that they’re not just leaders in gaming like PlayStation.

Smith said, “We’re partnering with the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. The most obvious strategy direction for us is we need to invest more to make awareness; we need people to say they’re using our products.”

During the Xperia launch in Jakarta, they showed a huge video of seven famous Southeast Asian personalities as brand ambassadors using their products. These included top Singaporean swimmer Russell Ong, shown in the pool with his waterproof Sony Xperia, Malaysian celebrity Audrey Ooi and Philippine stylist Liz Uy with her sister Laureen Uy. Liz recently launched her bestselling 111-page book Stylized, published by Summit Media.

A highlight of the launch was the elegant and youth-oriented fashion show by Indonesian designer Barli Asmara, with top female and male models showcasing new clothes along with Sony Xperia smartphones and tablets. Among the models was Miss Universe beauty pageant contender Miss Indonesia.

4. Reform or take away weaknesses. Be realistic and objective in self-analysis, recognizing weaknesses so that you can change them or take them away.

Many leaders, successful individuals or organizations cannot admit or recognize weakness, which is a daunting but essential challenge for maintaining success. Sony Corp. last month announced that it is selling its underperforming personal computer (PC) business and spinning off its TV business. It sold its VAIO PC brand and Sony will no longer plan, design, and develop any PC products like laptops ands desktops.

In Sony’s TV division, CEO Kazuo Hirai will spin off its TV business and run it as a subsidiary. Part of the change in strategy is aiming to focus more on high-end TV models such as boosting Sony’s 4K line-up and 2K models.

5. Synchronize other strengths. Be resourceful and creative in leveraging your advantages and maximizing your strengths.

At the Sony Xperia launch in Jakarta, the company released an advertising video that used a previously unreleased music track by the late pop superstar Michael Jackson. Sony Mobile executives say they are also tying up with their entertainment division to let their customers experience the forthcoming Spider-Man 2 movie.

Lang said, “We want to strengthen Sony as an entertainment brand and build on the Sony ecosystem. Sony is becoming a much more joined-up company … that is more and more coming fruition. For example, before, when the Spider-Man movie came out in Hollywood, our other divisions like mobile phones only took advantage of this two months after the film’s release in cinemas worldwide. Now with Sony Pictures Entertainment’s The Amazing Spider-Man 2, our smartphones and tablets can benefit in a much more ‘One Sony’ team. We’ll really be leveraging the contents like Sony’s entertainment and games businesses to make Sony a bigger brand.”        

Sony Pictures Entertainment used to be the famous Columbia Pictures before Sony bought the latter in 1989. Sony Pictures Entertainment recently gained box office success globally for its movies American Hustle and Captain Phillips.

Sony is also strong in TV. Between 2007 and 2013, Sony invested $415 million in media networks and $960 million in cable and broadcast TV production. Those sectors accounted for 39 percent, or $3.4 billion, of Sony Pictures’ $8.8 billion revenue in 2013.

Sony’s strategy to make the world more aware that they sell smartphones is to synchronize technology and entertainment from Sony’s other divisions, like cameras and games consoles that will become pocket-sized gadgets that can also make phone calls. Other examples of this strategy include a camera lens that snaps onto the phone, giving free Sony Pictures’ Hollywood films to Xperia customers, creating image-sensor technologies in mobile-phone cameras, and soon adding the Sony corporate logo at the beginning of all its films under various studio labels like Columbia Pictures and TriStar Pictures.

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Today, Sony is the only remaining Japanese contender in the world’s highly competitive smartphone sector, because Panasonic and NEC recently abandoned the smartphone business, while Fujitsu and Sharp now sell their smartphones only inside Japan.

Twenty years ago, Sony was the world’s undisputed consumer electronics trendsetter; today it is more well known in gaming due to PlayStation and entertainment. With the recent high-profile launch of its Xperia Z2 smartphone and the sale of its stagnant PC business, the company hopes to focus and challenge other global leaders in smartphones and tablets.

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