New Sony Gulf Managing Director revs up growth forecast; targets USD1 billion sales

Mr. Tamagawa took over the responsibilities from Mr. Yasuhide Yokota the former managing director who was transferred to Miami to look after Sony's business in Latin America earlier this month.

Making his initial statements after taking over as the new Managing Director of the Japanese major's fully-owned Dubai-based regional subsidiary Sony Gulf FZE, Mr. Masaru Tamagawa said that a slew of strategic plans were on the anvil to fuel growth for Sony products in the regional market. Prior to taking over as Managing Director, Mr. Tamagawa, was the General Manager of Sony Gulf, since April 2000.

Mr. Tamagawa said, "At a broader level of Sony operations in the regional markets, when we consolidate the business of Sony Gulf, Sony Broadcast & Professional and Sony Ericsson, we have already achieved the sales figure of US$ 1 billion in 2003"

Explaining Sony's business vision for the region in the short to medium-term, Mr. Tamagawa added "Sony Gulf is on a healthy growth trail in the Middle East markets and we are absolutely confident that we alone will achieve the targeted sales of US$1billion in the next couple of years from our wide range of products."

He said Sony's new strategy for accelerating growth was based on three main pillars - localized communication, focus on competition to grab larger market share and creation of demand for digital range of products.

"At Sony, we believe that if business has to grow we have to make a grass-roots connection with the local market. We will have to gauge the changing expectations of the local customers and adapt our communication to suit the demand. It is imperative that we do this to cultivate demand and help the consumer realize the highest potential of Sony products," Mr. Tamagawa said.

Mr. Tamagawa further said: "In a market with strong competition in the Hi-Fi and CTV categories, the challenge now for Sony is to grab market share in these segments and one way of achieving this is to strengthen distribution apart from enhancing our after sales service and customer support."

"Our undisputed growth engine lies in the area of digital products and in 2004, we will continue to work alongside our partners to create and sustain higher growth levels within this segment. To this end we will continue to lay strong focus on Digital Video Cameras, Digital Still Cameras and VAIO laptops".

Mr. Tamagawa, who has extensive and in-depth knowledge of the regional market, is a graduate in industrial economics from the Chou University, Tokyo. From Sony's International Marketing Group, Video Marketing Department in Tokyo, he moved to Sony Thailand as Division Manager, Sales and Marketing in 1992 where he continued till March 1995. At Sony Thailand the sale doubled during his tenure.

Mr. Tamagawa moved to Sony Panama in April 1995 as General Manager, Sales and Marketing and managed the Latin American markets during in the thick of the Mexican currency crisis. He moved to Tokyo in 1998 before being posted to Sony Gulf FZE as General Manager, Sales and Marketing. During his stint at Sony Gulf FZE, Mr. Tamagawa has consistently achieved double digit sales figures.

Mr. Tamagawa is married and has three children. He loves playing golf and in his spare time plays baseball with his son. He is an avid reader and besides reading up on business strategies, he loves detective novels and books on international cultures. An animal lover, Mr. Tamagawa loves spending time with his pet dog, a Labrador retriever.