Sony VAIO E14a Launch

Sony India today announced its ambitious plans to sell a whopping 6.5 lakh VAIO units in FY12, up from 5 lakh units in FY11. This year, Sony India adds VAIO E14A, with unique wrap design with accent colours, VAIO T, the Ultrabook and new models of E, S & Z series to its ever-expanding product portfolio. Sony will also consolidate its distribution network by adding 500 more channel counters, taking the total count to 4,500 in FY12. Sony for the first time introduces on-site support for all VAIO models, beginning July 2012. Towards VAIO marketing, Sony will invest a huge sum of Rs. 90 crore in FY12, starting with ‘Spark a Trend’ campaign with Brand Ambassador Ms. Kareena Kapoor.

Talking about VAIO business in FY11, it has really been a phenomenal success story. By selling 5 lakh VAIO units in FY11, VAIO for the first time emerged as the market leader in the consumer notebook market, hitting 20% market share in the Q3, FY11, as per IDC (International Data Corporation) research findings. Owing to this humongous growth, VAIO became the fastest growing laptop brand in India with 100% growth rate vis-à-vis the industry average of 25%. VAIO also had the strongest brand recall amongst all laptop brands in India on the basis of top-of-the-mind, spontaneous and aided recall, as per research conducted by IMRB (Indian Market Research Bureau). VAIO has been rated very highly by business partners as well, especially on the basis of channel profitability, channel marketing & training and channel policy & management, as per a CRN survey.