Sony UK & Ireland tradeshow 2015 ‘The Sony brand has grown this year’
Sony UK and Ireland unveiled its predictions for 2015 following a positive 12 months for the company
F
ebruary 3 saw Sony’s retail partners and press gather at the Japanese consumer electronics
manufacturer’s UK head office at Weybridge for the unveiling of its 2015 product portfolio and get an update on how the brand has performed over 2014. Sony UK marketing director Shaun
Dorrington noted the positive economic news over the past 12 months with GDP growth of around 2.5%, the first signs of wage growth, declining inflation and consumer confidence improving. He added: “Not only do we think economic news is good, we think people are coming back into the store and spending more money. It was helped in 2014 by two key events, the FIFA World Cup in June and July and Black Friday.” He revealed that the 32in and above TV
market saw growth of 50% year-on-year in June, which he described as ‘huge growth’ compared to last year, especially in the context of market decline in recent years. November, with Black Friday, also saw 50% growth year-on-year. Shaun commented: “The interesting thing about Black Friday is despite images of chaos and the heavy discounting, we saw signs of growth across the range. The Black Friday event shouldn’t just be associated with discount prices. There’s a real opportunity for everyone there to sell more products, even at the ‘normal’ price. I think it needs to be approached positively and planned for, and not seen in a negative light.” He added: “All that contributed
to growth across 2014. For 32in and above, we saw a 21% increase in units year-on-year; across all screen sizes it was 7%.” Looking ahead, Shaun is optimistic about the coming months. “There are positive economic signs for 2015; oil prices going down, and the Rugby World Cup can provide a boost in some areas,” he explained. “There is the election coming up which can have a destabilising effect, and the economies in Europe are not doing so well, but we don’t think this will slow down the momentum that we see. We’re projecting growth for 2015 across quite a range of categories. 32in and above TV will
continue to grow, with a Sony projection of around 8%. Soundbars were strong in 2014, with a renewed interest in audio quality, and we’re expecting it to continue to grow.” He continued: “Headphones is a big market, but still growing, especially in the premium sector, which is a big opportunity. Wireless docking is set to grow, with a phase out of traditional docks where you put your phone physically on the audio product. On compact system cameras; you always hear a lot of negative news about the digital imaging market, the 22% decline, or 25% decline, but the compact system camera has not only grown as a portion of the market, but is growing overall. It grew by 5% this year, and we predict around 14% next year.”
Sony and Youview TV continues to be a focus for Sony. Shaun added: “Over 50% of the 50in plus market will be 4K in 2015. When we think about the independent sector, we think almost 100% of the 50in plus segment will be 4K,
as they’re not really in at that entry level price. So it’s vitally important to be behind 4K and understand 4K. It delivers improved picture quality, but it’s not just about having a 4K source; upscaling from 2K to 4K is also delivering phenomenal improvement in picture quality. Because customers can see that, and the evidence is there, it’s already taken away some of the question about 4K content, because you’re already getting a definite improvement in picture quality. At the same time, more 4K content is coming; Netflix and Amazon are both streaming, broadcast is perhaps on the horizon but there is definitely more content accessible.” On the issue of 4K content, retail director
Roy Dickens expanded: “There is some coming through; we’re seeing Netflix streaming, and we’re hearing noises from BT and Sky, but there’s no announcements yet. But the reason we’re positive that a consumer buying a TV today should buy a 4K TV, is because there’s no doubt that broadcasts will come. However, our TVs upscale content that goes into them
Sony’s A6000 boasts similar sensor size and lens compatibility to large-body DSLR cameras, but in a smaller frame. The company expects the compact system camera market to grow by 14% this year
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www.innovativeelectricalretailing.co.uk March 2015
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