Sony slashes TV prices
22/5/2003 17:52
Sony (China) Co Ltd has cut the prices of nearly 20 TV products by up
to 34 percent on China's market, a move which analysts see as part of the
company's new mainland China strategy which took effect last month.
The
average price cut was 1,000 yuan (US$121) and the deepest was 2,000 yuan, or 34
percent, on a 29-inch model, according to today's www.homeway.com.
In
response, other overseas home appliance makers, including Japanese Panasonic,
Hitachi and South Korean LG and Samsung, started to follow suit and lowered
their TV prices, said Ding Wei, general manager of a local home appliance
retailer in Guangzhou, in south China's Guangdong Province.
Analysts
described Sony's price cuts as unusual for the high-end product maker and as one
of a series of moves Sony has taken in line with its new China strategy to lower
its high-price image to cater to Chinese buyers.
It marketed a new DVD
display model last month at 880 yuan in China, a record low for Sony DVD display
products sold here. That price is competitive compared with China's domestic
products, most of which adopt low pricing strategies.
However, Sony
denied the analysts' view that the price cuts are associated with Sony's
changing strategy in China.
Xue Haiqing, spokeswoman for Sony (China)'s
Guangzhou branch, said the cuts are nothing but a "normal action" the company is
taking in the local market.
According to Sony's new China strategy
launched last month, the company's China market will outpace its domestic market
in Japan, both in revenue and investment, by 2008.
In 2001, Sony reported
revenue of US$1 billion in China, accounting for a mere three percent of its
global market.
Jane Chen / Shanghai Daily news
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