Following Narendra Modi’s ambitious “Make in India” initiative, another foreign manufacturer has agreed to setup its manufacturing unit in the country. Sony has announced that it is planning to open a facility in India to manufacture devices.
This is not the first time that a known brand has shown interest in becoming a part of MII campaign. Earlier, Samsung had also revealed its plans to manufacture devices in India, and Samsung’s Tizen to be the first one to come with Made-in-India label.
Kenichiro Hibi, Sony India managing director, said,”Of course, thanks to Modi's strong initiatives, somehow we have to cope with the country's direction and strategy. We are in talks as to how we can support country's direction. At this point of time, we do not have any specific comment. We are seriously studying as how can we reply to PM’s requirements,” he said.
Interestingly, Sony used to have a manufacturing unit, but unfortunately it was shut down in the year 2004. It imports goods from Malaysia, China, Thailand and Japan. The company has not yet revealed the time required for setting up the facility, however, Hibi ensured that it would "definitely" be within a two-year window.
India being the fourth largest market for Sony, its Xperia and Bravia range of devices constitute around three-fourth of the total revenue. As per Hibi, this financial too Sony is planning to sustain its 20 percent growth in India. Last week, Sony unveiled the Xperia Z3+ for a price of Rs. 55,900 and is now rumored to be working on a pocket-friendly exclusively for India.
