Services is the way forward for Sony Professional as slimmer profit margins and contraction in budgets affect overall business profitability.
The firm is a unit of Sony Europe and supplier of audio-visual and IT solutions.
David Bush, Director of Marketing (Emea) at Sony Professional told Emirates Business: "Margins have slimmed down in the television business but moving forward we want to be a project focused company. The services business has accelerated and therefore the company's focus is just not selling hardware products. There will also be investments made in terms of adding of headcount in the Emea region as this is a people oriented business."
Though businesses have cut IT budgets, they are still investing in solutions such as video conferencing. Bush and his team in Dubai have sold more units in the Middle East especially in Saudi Arabia.
"Sony Professional has traditionally done well selling to the broadcasting sector but this has changed as we now focus increasingly on business-to-business. Broadcasting is still a bigger part of the business worth almost $1.2 billion (Dh4.4bn) in the Emea region. In the Middle East, broadcasting is 70 to 75 per cent of the business. "
Globally, Sony Electronics has faced a tough year in terms of profits and revenues. Bush, however, insists the professional part of the business is still robust compared to the consumer business. "Consumer spending eventually does impact businesses. This year we reported single digit growth, which is the fifth year in succession. Although the broadcasting business is big, advertising revenues are affecting the sector," he said.
The company is also closely monitoring unprofitable businesses, according to guidelines from the headquarters. "This is not a new phenomenon as we have been working hard to eradicate non-profit businesses. There are quite a number of businesses such as TV displays, which are not doing well. We are working on making it profitable because displays are only part of the solution. The focus on services and content will drive business in this space," said Bush.
"Selling mere products, for example 100 displays, does not make business sense but selling content along with it is profitable business."
Sony Professional also launched Ziris Canvas – the latest digital video wall technology. The system allows an unlimited number of HD displays to play out content either individually or rendered across several screens at one time.
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