Electronics conglomerate Sony Corp. unveiled eight new flat-screen televisions on Thursday in a product push it hopes will help it secure a leading 35 percent of the domestic market in the key month of December.
Sony, which counts Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. and Sharp Corp. among its chief rivals in liquid crystal display (LCD) and plasma display (PDP) televisions, also expressed confidence that its TV division would recover.
"I'm certain there will be no problem with the profitability of our TVs this year," said Makoto Kogure, who oversees Sony's TV operations, which posted an $77.72 million operating loss in the latest quarter to June 30.
Kogure's comments came at a briefing where Sony took the wraps off a new line-up of flat TVs, including two in its premium "Qualia" series, which will go on sale domestically in November, and six "Wega" models that will hit stores in Japan next month.
The new TVs will be launched globally later this year and into 2005, Sony said.
Sales of plasma and LCD TVs have been strong in recent months and are expected to continue to expand rapidly over the next several years as consumers trade in bulky cathode ray tube (CRT) televisions for sexier flat-screen models.
But Sony did not introduce as many new models as Matsushita and some of its other rivals in the run-up to the Athens Olympics this month, choosing to wait for the year-end shopping period, when it sees its heaviest demand.
"There will be a peak in the flat TV market this year-end season the likes of which has never been seen before," said Kiyoshi Shikano, corporate vice president of Sony Marketing Japan. "That is the main reason we unveiled these TVs today."
On the back of the new products, Shikano said Sony was aiming to secure 35 percent of the domestic flat TV market in December, up from 30 percent in the same month last year. He said the company would shoot for a similar share of the global market.
Sony said the two Qualia TVs -- a 40-inch and a 46-inch model -- would be the first LCD TVs to employ light-emitting diodes (LED) as a backlight unit, allowing for a wider production of colors than LCD TVs using a conventional source of light.
Most manufacturers have been using cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFL) as a light source for LCD TVs.
The 46-inch Qualia model will sell for $10,080 and the 40-inch TV will go for $7,677, Sony said.
In the Wega series, Sony's new 50-inch plasma TV will sell for $9,404, the 42-inch plasma set will go for $7,101 and the 37-inch plasma set is expected to retail for $6,045.
Sony will also sell 40-inch, 32-inch, and 26-inch LCD TVs under the Wega name.
