Sony India to hire 500 more to support growth

Sony India today announced plans to increase its headcount by 500 employees before March 2013 – in sharp contrast to its loss-making Japanese parent Sony Corporation's plans to shed an estimated 10,000 employees or about 6 per cent of its global headcount.
 
"The situation in India is different from the other global markets, where Sony is witnessing pressure. We are having strong growth and healthy profits," Sony India managing director Masaru Tamagawa told reporters in New Delhi.

"Considering both permanent and contract workers, we are at present employing a total of 3,300 people in India. This number will go up to 3,800 by March, 2013."

He was speaking during the launch of a line of 34 new Cyber-shot models, priced between Rs5,490 and Rs27,990. The company plans to invest Rs50 crore on the multi-media brand campaign for this range of cameras.

Continuing the upbeat note, Tamagawa said, "Currently the Indian market is contributing 5 per cent of the global revenue and it may rise up to 6 per cent in the next one year. Sony India had a revenue of Rs5,400 crore in 2010-11." The company, he added, will announce results for FY'12 in the next few weeks.

In February, Sony Corp had forecast annual losses of 220 billion yen ($2.9 billion) against the 90 billion yen loss it announced in November. The company had blamed a stronger yen and drop in production caused by floods in Thailand last year, as also the cost of exiting a display-panel venture with Samsung Electronics Co.

The Indian operations are Sony's fifth largest globally after Japan, the US, China and Brazil. Unlike its global operations where Sony has lost money on its television business for eight straight years, the growth for Sony India has come primarily from the Flat Panel TV segment.
 
''Bravia is the top selling brand in bigger screen sizes, that is, 40 inch onwards. Sony had the highest market share of 40 per cent in the LED market space in 2010-11, selling 9.5 lakh units,'' Tamagawa said.
 
Sony India's growth is primarily fuelled by three categories - the Bravia range of televisions, Vaio notebook computers, and compact cameras like the Cyber-shot range.

''With 45 per cent growth last fiscal, we outperformed the digital camera market, which grew at 40 per cent,'' the company said in a statement.