Modern Electronics, a subsidiary of Al-Faisaliah Group Holding Co., the sole distributor of Sony in Saudi Arabia opened Sunday four more “Sony World” exhibitions in the Western Region; two of which were in Jeddah while the others were opened in Yanbu and Makkah. Sony was represented in the opening ceremony by Kazutoyo Araki, Senior Manager, Area Marketing Group, Global VAIO Direct Department Business Planning and Strategy Division. The event was also attended by Bader Al-Suwailem, Managing Director and Hasan A. Ubaidan, Retail Sales Manager along with a number of executives and customers. Speaking to Saudi Gazette, Araki pointed out that Saudi Arabia is the biggest Middle Eastern market for Sony's products, even during the recent global economic crisis that hit much of the global economy. “The strong Saudi economy stood firm in the face of that crisis and was indistinctly influenced. This has helped our sales to increase in this solid-grounded economy,” Araki said. He added that their prices are almost the same everywhere in the world. After six months, US and Europeean markets were hit by the wave of the global economic crisis, he continued, and the technology giant started to experience the effect of the crisis in their Dubai market. However, their 42 Saudi branches remained unharmed. “Unlike Dubai, where we had some difficulties, Saudi Arabia has not been affected. We're doing fine here,” he added. According to Araki, Sony's main interest is to adhere to the highest possible quality standards. “It's true that pricing is of great importance to us, but this should not be on account of quality, no matter how tough the competition,” he said. He added that Sony products see some 30 percent fall in price every year; a new product is sold for 30 percent less a year later. Araki said that such offers can help attract more customers who look for good products. He added that Sony products have been sold in the Saudi market for some 45 years. “We have been selling our products in Saudi Arabia for more than four decades. Through the surveys that we periodically conduct to understand the need of Saudi clients, we've discovered that television sets, laptops and cameras are the most popular Sony products in the Saudi market,” he explained. He added that their studies aim to understand which of their products both Saudi men and women prefer buying. Araki noted that Sony's Saudi showrooms are some of the best in the world with regard to promoting Sony's strategies and supporting the brand name “They display the latest digital and high-clarity products with exciting and exclusive features that can provide significant benefits to customers, ” he said.
