SehaJ
Troublemaker
Aimed at a growing gamer base in the country, mobile phone maker Sony Ericsson on Thursday launched its new gaming handset ‘F305’, priced at Rs8,995.
“The F305, which has the motion sensor technology, is the first gaming phone from the stable. The phone is already available in the market,” Sony Ericsson General Manager Sudhin Mathur told reporters here.
Asked if the company was planning to launch more handsets focused on gaming, Mathur said Sony Ericsson would look at this segment as the number of gamers in the country is growing.
Sony already has its Walkman and Cybershot range for the music and imaging segment, respectively.
The handset has three preloaded motion games along with 50 additional games and is equipped with a two megapixel camera.
Talking about the impact of the slowdown, Mathur said, “Globally there is a slowdown in the market. In India, there is a hesitation but sales have not gone down tremendously.”
“There is a marginal shift and the market is getting polarised between the high-end and the low-cost handsets and we are very excited about the (Indian) market,” he added.
The company will continue to focus on the mid and high category in India.
“We are focusing on the value share rather than volume...Anything above Rs3,000-4,000, where consumers are looking for new experience is where the focus will be,” Mathur said.
Sony also plans to launch its download service ‘PlayNow’ in India.
“PlayNow is our service offering to the end consumers. We will shortly launch (PlayNow) in India...in the first half of the year, we will announce the various initiatives on it like content and downloads,” Mathur said.
PlayNow arena, introduced in February 2004, is Sony Ericsson’s over-the-air (OTA) download service, which allows the user to listen and then purchase polyphonic ringtones directly to the phone.
The service, available in 32 countries, includes master tones (MP3 ringtones), games, full music tracks, themes and wallpapers. It announced deals with 10 major record labels like Sony BMG, Warner Music Group, EMI and Hungama to add over five million new tracks to PlayNow arena.
“The F305, which has the motion sensor technology, is the first gaming phone from the stable. The phone is already available in the market,” Sony Ericsson General Manager Sudhin Mathur told reporters here.
Asked if the company was planning to launch more handsets focused on gaming, Mathur said Sony Ericsson would look at this segment as the number of gamers in the country is growing.
Sony already has its Walkman and Cybershot range for the music and imaging segment, respectively.
The handset has three preloaded motion games along with 50 additional games and is equipped with a two megapixel camera.
Talking about the impact of the slowdown, Mathur said, “Globally there is a slowdown in the market. In India, there is a hesitation but sales have not gone down tremendously.”
“There is a marginal shift and the market is getting polarised between the high-end and the low-cost handsets and we are very excited about the (Indian) market,” he added.
The company will continue to focus on the mid and high category in India.
“We are focusing on the value share rather than volume...Anything above Rs3,000-4,000, where consumers are looking for new experience is where the focus will be,” Mathur said.
Sony also plans to launch its download service ‘PlayNow’ in India.
“PlayNow is our service offering to the end consumers. We will shortly launch (PlayNow) in India...in the first half of the year, we will announce the various initiatives on it like content and downloads,” Mathur said.
PlayNow arena, introduced in February 2004, is Sony Ericsson’s over-the-air (OTA) download service, which allows the user to listen and then purchase polyphonic ringtones directly to the phone.
The service, available in 32 countries, includes master tones (MP3 ringtones), games, full music tracks, themes and wallpapers. It announced deals with 10 major record labels like Sony BMG, Warner Music Group, EMI and Hungama to add over five million new tracks to PlayNow arena.
