Sony targets 60 percent sales growth in Indonesia

Sony's Indonesian arm wants to generate a 20 percent sales growth more than the 40 percent it witnessed in 2012, even as it looks to consolidate its position as one of the top three sales contributors in the Southeast Asian region.

The Jakarta Post reported Friday that PT Sony Indonesia is positioning itself to be one of the main sales growth drivers for the region in the future. Malaysia and Thailand may be bigger right now, but Indonesia is nearly on par as the three markets represent the company's top three sales contributors in Southeast Asia, said Satoru Arai, president director of Sony Indonesia.

"Indonesia, with its large population and economic growth, will be one of the biggest contributors in the Southeast Asian region in the future. This year, we are aiming to grow by 60 percent," Arai stated in the report. 

The executive added the company plans to add new distribution points in the country to help support this "big" sales target. There will be 3 new branches to add to the current 9 located in key cities such as Jakarta, Medan and Makassar, he said.

It is also looking to increase the number of warehouses it has in the market from the current 5, he noted.

Product launches will also play a key role, as Sony Indonesia plans to introduce 60 new products, including TVs, cameras and smartphones throughout 2013. For instance, 14 new TV models will be released to the market during this time, he said.

"In terms of sales, 70 percent comes from televisions, Vaio personal computers and cameras," Arai said, adding it plans to double the distribution of its Xperia smartphones.

The Japanese electronics giant had in February posted US$20.84 billion in revenue for its third quarter earnings, but reported a US$115 million in net profit loss. This was still an improvement from the year before when it posted a US$2.1 billion net loss, though.