Sony appoints new Managing Director for Middle East & Africa region

Mr. Miura was one of the founding members who established Sony Gulf FZE in 1989. Prior to his current assignment in Sony Gulf; Mr. Miura spent eight years in Latin America as President of Sony in Argentina and Chile and Director, Sales & Marketing in Brazil.

Mr. Miura takes over the reigns of Sony's regional operations from Mr. Masaru Tamagawa, and brings to Sony Gulf new leadership that combines local knowledge and global experience.

In his initial comments as the Managing Director of Sony Gulf, Mr. Osamu Miura, said,

"The Middle East and in particular the UAE, has developed phenomenally. The consumer electronics industry here has seen incredible growth and I am delighted to join Sony Gulf when the business in the region is at the threshold of an exciting phase - the shift from Standard to High Definition. High Definition is without any doubt the biggest revolution that is transforming the Consumer Electronics & Entertainment Industries worldwide. The two decades of pioneering research in the development of this vital technology will spearhead Sony Gulf's growth and sustain its market leadership in the Middle East & Africa region".

High Definition is the key focus area of Sony Corporation's global business strategy, and Sony plans to increase the percentage of products supporting the High Definition format from the current 35% to about 75% by the end of fiscal year 2007.

"The introduction of PlayStation 3 in March 2007, followed by other High Definition Blu-ray Disk products, like Blu-ray player, new VAIO laptop computers with Blu-ray recordable drive, additions to the line-up of High Definition Bravia LCD televisions and HD Handycam video cameras will enable us to sustain growth of about 20 % per annum and achieve sales of about US $ 1.2 billion in FY 2007," Mr. Miura added.

Sony Gulf expects that the impending launch of High Definition Broadcast in the region, along with accelerated introduction of various consumer electronic & entertainment products, like PlayStation 3 games and Blu-ray movie titles, will see the Middle East markets rapidly adopting HD technology. Within 2-3 years, the Middle East region will catch up with markets like North America and Japan, which have had a head start thanks to the early commencement of HD broadcasts there.

Mr. Miura joined Sony Corporation in 1982 and was based in Japan, overseeing the Sales & Marketing functions of the Middle East. In 1986, he was became the Chief Representative of Sony's office in Egypt and in 1988, was appointed as a member of the founding team that established Sony's regional office, Sony Gulf FZE in Dubai, UAE. After a successful stint in Sony Gulf, UAE, he joined the team that set up operations in Cyprus in 1992. In 1994, Mr. Miura was appointed as Chief Representative and General Manager of Modern Electronics Co. Ltd. in Saudi Arabia. Four years later, he joined Sony Brazil as Sales and Marketing Director before taking up assignments as President in Sony Argentina and Sony Chile from 2000 - 2006.

Mr. Miura joins Sony Gulf with a wealth of expertise gleaned from his wide-ranging global assignments. A strong believer in teamwork and perseverance, he looks forward to a good business challenge.

Mr. Miura is married and has one child. He enjoys golf and loves tennis and swimming. He is also a Latin American music enthusiast.