Sony reveals vision for Middle East

The Japanese tech giant is to focus more attention on the Middle East - starting with a pair of 3D binoculars.

Sony's personal 3-D viewers are now being sold in the UAE. Above, visitors try on Sony's latest gadget in an electronics fair in Berlin. Sean Gallup / Getty Images

A pair of 3-D binoculars is just one of the quirky new products Sony is now selling to UAE shoppers as it focuses more attention on the Middle East.

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Kiyoshi Shikano, the global sales and marketing officer at Sony, says the company is investing in the region, having suffered an annus horribilis this year.

"[Consumers] here are of most strategic importance for Sony," he said. "Many countries' [growth is] slowing down, so the importance of the whole Middle East and Africa is much greater."

Sony and Jumbo Electronics, its local distributor and partner, yesterday unveiled a huge showroom for its products in Jumbo's Mall of the Emirates store in Dubai.

The showroom includes Sony's well-known brands such as Vaio laptops, Bravia TVs and PlayStation consoles, as well as new products in the Middle East, such as 3-D binoculars that can record a live scene in high definition. But at Dh6,999 (US$1,905), birdwatchers might baulk at the price.

Jumbo is now also selling Sony's personal 3-D viewer, a space-age gadget that sits over the head and the eyes and plays 3-D films.

The showroom also sells a room-link system that connects all the gadgets in the house, so customers can watch movies on their TV that are saved on a personal computer.

Jumbo and Sony are trying to promote the brand in the UAE across all electronics categories, following stiff competition from a host of other brands, such as Samsung in TVs, Apple, Lenovo and Samsung in laptops and Xbox 360 in gaming.

Deepak Khetrapal, the chief executive of Jumbo, said the company planned to open three more stores with showrooms in the near future.

"We at Jumbo have complete faith in Sony's capabilities and customers can come in to experience Sony right here," he said.

But sales of Sony products have been disappointing for Jumbo this year, with growth only marginally up on last year.

This compares with double-digit sales growth for the overall business, which has benefited from the boom in tourism and heightened consumer confidence.

Sony's year has been tainted by major supply issues following Japan's earthquake and tsunami in March, the loss of customer information and a strong currency that hurt sales.

"Everything came together this year," Mr Shikano said. "There was the earthquake, the European crisis, the PlayStation issues and the yen. And now we are being affected by the Thai floods."

Sony shocked investors last month when it warned of a fourth year of consecutive losses, causing its shares to plunge.

The company's TV business has been loss-making for eight years and the strength of the yen has made many of its products less competitive globally.

Sony was also the victim of a major hacking intrusion, when the personal details of millions of customers on its PlayStation Network were stolen, including those of close to 1 million people across the Middle East.

But Mr Shikano said the incident had not damaged the PlayStation Network, with subscriber numbers increasing from about 82 million to 90 million globally this year.

Sony recently bought out Ericsson's stake in its joint venture Sony Ericsson, and is set to wrap the company into its smartphone division.

But contrary to media reports, Mr Shikano said the company had not definitely decided to drop the Ericsson name.

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