A PROJECT REPORT On To Access The Opportunities For Increasing The Sales of Sony Vaio Laptops

To access the opportunities for increasing the sales of Sony Vaio laptops in Hubli-Dharwad region
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1. Introduction
Computing on the move has been a focus area for a lot of Information Technology Companies for years. The idea of being able to work while on the road is extremely fascinating. A notebook, also known as a laptop, which may also be understood as a mobile computer has been the solution for these portable computer related tasks. Thousands of people face the dilemma every day, should I buy a laptop or a desktop? Information technology is not only advancing at a great pace but it is making lives better. We have been using desktops way back since 1940 when the first computer was invented. However, the increasing dependence on computers has given an impetus to develop more advanced computers like laptops or notebooks. Though desktop is the king, laptops are gaining ground these days due to its portability.
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In 2000, one in 10 home computers bought worldwide was a laptop, these days it is one in five. According to the research firm Current Analysis, laptops have for the first time outsold desktops in the US in a calendar month. Laptops sales accounted for 53 per cent of the total personal computer market, up from 46 per cent during the same period last year. Due to increased demand for laptops, companies have reduced prices and at the same time improved quality. Laptop prices have come down 17 per cent during the last year while desktop price has dipped only 4 per cent. The reasons for this rise are: laptops' longer-lasting batteries, CD burners and wireless capability. Moreover, the computing crowd is increasingly demanding mobility. "There used to be a time when people expected a reply to an email within a couple of days. Now they expect a response within 24 hours. People want to stay connected wherever they are" Desktop computers are less expensive than laptop computers. The price difference is because a laptop's components are much smaller, usually more expensive to manufacture, and more time-consuming to build into the final product. Prices range from Rs 45,000 for entry-level ones to over Ts 1.5 lakh for snazzier versions. Laptop brands: Sony, Acer (TravelMate and Aspire), Alienware, Apple Computer (iBook and Powerbook), ASUS, Averatec, Clevo, Compaq (EVO, Armada and Presario), Dell, ECS, Fujitsu, Gateway, Hewlett Packard, Hypersonic, IBM, NEC, Panasonic and Toshiba.
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1.1 Laptop History

In the 1970s, Alan Kay of the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center had a vision for a wireless portable computer roughly the size of a notebook. He called it the Dynabook. Kay's Dynabook never got past sketches and a cardboard model, but it set the wheels in motion for the development of a truly portable computer. In 1979, William Moggridge of Grid Systems Corporation created the first functioning portable computer: The Grid Compass Computer 1109. It had 340 kilobytes of bubble memory, a die-cast magnesium case and a folding electroluminescent graphics display screen. NASA bought a handful of them at $800 apiece for use in the space program. Other companies, like Gavilan Computer and Apple, introduced other portable computers in following years. The first commercially viable machine, however, was the IBM PC Convertible, introduced in 1986. The PC Convertible featured: An 8088 microprocessor 256 kilobytes of memory Two 3.5-inch (8.9-cm) floppy drives An LCD display Parallel and serial printer ports Space for an internal modem A software suite including basic word processing, appointment calendar, telephone/address book, and calculator software Weighing in at a hefty 12 lbs (5.4 kg), the PC Convertible sold for $3,500. It was the first portable computer with the clamshell design used in today's laptops. The success of the PC Convertible was the catalyst for competitors like Compaq and Toshiba to switch to the clamshell design in their portable computers. And so began the era of the laptop computer.
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1.2 Introduction to How Laptops Work

In a way, the skyrocketing popularity of laptop computers is ironic. They are completely portable, and they use less power and make less noise than desktop models. But, they're often a little slower and have less graphics and sound processing power, although these differences can be too small for most users to notice. How can all the equipment found in a desktop tower fit into such a small package? And how can laptops be efficient enough to run on battery power alone?
A desktop computer includes a motherboard, video card, hard drive and other components in a large case. The monitor, keyboard, and other peripherals connect wirelessly or with cables. Whether the case sits vertically or horizontally, it has lots of space for add-in cards, cables and air circulation.
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A laptop, however, is much smaller and lighter than even the most compact PC tower. Its screen is an integrated part of the unit, as is its keyboard. Instead of a spacious case with lots of room for air circulation, a laptop uses a small, flat design in which all the pieces fit together snugly. Because of this fundamental design difference and because of a laptop's inherent portability, components have to:

Fit into a compact space Conserve power Produce less heat than desktop components
Often, these differences make the components more expensive, which can contribute to higher laptop prices.
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1.3 Processor
The microprocessor, or CPU, works with the operating system to control the computer. It essentially acts as the computer's brain. The CPU produces a lot of heat, so a desktop computer uses circulating air, a fan and a heat sink -- a system of plates, channels and radiator fins used to draw heat off of the processor -- to cool off. Since a laptop has far less room for each of these cooling methods, its CPU usually:
Runs at a lower voltage and clock speed -- This reduces heat output and power consumption but slows the processor down. Most laptops also run at a higher voltage and clock speed when plugged in, and at lower settings when using the battery.
Mounts to the motherboard without using pins -- Pins and sockets take up a lot of room in desktop PCs. Some motherboard processors mount directly to the motherboard without the use of a socket. Others use a Micro-FCBGA (Flip Chip Ball Grid Array), which uses balls instead of pins. These designs save space, but in some cases mean that the processor cannot be removed from the motherboard for replacement or upgrading.
Has a sleep or slow-down mode -- The computer and the operating system work together to reduce the CPU speed when the computer is not in use or when the processor does not need to run as quickly. The Apple G4 processor also prioritizes data to minimize battery drain.
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Some laptops use desktop CPUs that are set to run at lower clock speeds. Although this can improve performance, these laptops typically run much hotter and have a significantly reduced battery life.
Laptops usually have small fans, heat sinks, heat spreaders or heat pipes to help dissipate the heat from the CPU. Some higher end laptop models reduce heat even further with liquid coolant kept in channels alongside the heat pipe. Also, most laptop CPUs are near the edge of the unit. This allows the fan to move the heat directly to the outside instead of across other components.
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1.4 Memory and Storage

A laptop's memory can make up for some of the reduced performance that comes from a slower processor. Some laptops have cache memory on or very near the CPU, allowing it to access data more quickly. Some also have larger busses, allowing data to move between the processor, motherboard and memory more quickly. Laptops often use smaller memory modules to save space. Memory types used in laptops include:

Small Outline Dual Inline Memory Module (SODIMM) Dual Data Rate Synchronous RAM (DDR SDRAM) Single data rate Synchronous RAM (SDRAM) Proprietary memory modules
Some laptops have upgradeable memory and feature removable panels for easy access to the memory modules. Like a desktop, a laptop has an internal hard disk drive, which stores the operating system, applications and data files. However, laptops generally have less disk space than desktops. A laptop hard drive is also physically smaller than that of a desktop. In addition, most laptop hard drives spin more slowly than desktop hard drives, reducing both heat and power consumption. Desktop computers have multiple bays for installing additional drives, such as CD and DVD ROM drives. However, space in a laptop is in much shorter supply. Many laptops use a modular design, allowing a variety of drives to fit in the same bay. These drives come in three different designations:

Hot swappable - The computer can stay on while changing the drive. Warm swappable - The computer can stay on while changing the drive, but the corresponding bus (the path the drive uses to send data to the CPU) must be inactive.
Cold swappable - The computer must be off during the swap.
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1.5 Display and Sound
A graphics processing unit (GPU) is a microprocessor that handles the calculations necessary for 3-D graphics rendering. Like a CPU, a GPU produces a lot of heat. Most laptops have graphics capability built into the motherboard or have smaller graphics cards with a GPU designed specifically for laptop use. GPU manufacturers ATI and nVidia both make GPUs specifically for laptops. Laptops frequently share memory between the CPU and the GPU, saving space and reducing power consumption. A laptop displays its graphics on a liquid crystal display (LCD) screen. Most screens measure between 12 and 17 inches, and the size of the screen affects the overall size of the laptop. In addition, laptop screens can be:

Black-and-white (16 grayscale) or color (65,536 colors) Active or passive matrix Reflective or backlit
Most laptops also have sound cards or integrated sound processing on the motherboard as well as small, built-in speakers. However, there is generally not enough space inside a laptop for a top-of-the-line sound card or a high-quality speaker.
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1.6 Power Supplies

Laptops and desktops both run on electricity. Both have small batteries to maintain the real-time clock and, in some cases, CMOS RAM. However, unlike a desktop computer, a laptop is portable and can run on batteries alone. Nickel-Cadmium (NiCad) batteries were the first type of and battery older commonly used in laptop computers, laptops sometimes still use them. They have a life of roughly two hours between charges, but this life decreases with each charge based on the memory effect. Gas bubbles form in the cell plates, reducing the total amount of available cell space for recharge. The only way around this is to discharge the battery completely before recharging it. The other drawback of NiCad is that if the battery charges too long, it can explode. Nickel-Metal Hydride (Ni-MH) batteries are the bridge between NiCad and the newer Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion) batteries. They last longer between charges than NiCad but overall have a shorter total lifespan. They suffer from the memory effect, but to a lesser extent than NiCad batteries. Li-Ion batteries are the current standard for laptop computers. They are light and have long life spans. They do not suffer from the memory effect, can be charged randomly, and won't overheat if overcharged. They are also thinner than any other battery available for laptops, making them ideal for the new ultra-thin notebooks. LiIon batteries can last for anything from about 950 up to 1200 charges. Many laptops with Li-Ion batteries claim to have a 5-hour battery life, but this measurement can vary greatly depending on how the computer is used. The hard drive, other disk drives and LCD display all use substantial battery power. Even maintaining wireless Internet connectivity requires some battery power.
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2. Industry Overview
Electronics industry the business of creating, designing, producing, and selling devices such as radios, televisions, stereos, computers, semiconductors, transistors, and integrated circuits. As sales of electronic products from some $200 million in 1927 to over $266 billion in 2007 worldwide, the electronics industry transformed factories, offices, and homes, emerging as a key economic sector that rivaled the chemical, steel, and auto industries in size. The industry traces its origins to the invention of the two-element electron tube (1904) by John Ambrose Flemming, and the three-element tube (1906) by Lee De Forest . These inventions led to the development of commercial radio in the 1920s, which boosted radio sales to $300 million by the end of the decade. In 1947, the electronics industry made another important advance when John Bardeen, Walter Brattain, and William Shockley invented the transistor. Smaller, lighter, and more durable than the vacuum tubes that had been used in radios, transistors touched off a period of progressive miniaturization of electronic devices. Integrated circuits, which were developed in the 1950s, allowed the integration of several circuits into one circuit, and the introduction of analog devices in the 1960s vastly increased the amount of information that could be stored on a single silicon chip. Other important sectors that have made great advances since the 1970s include laser and optical electronics, digital electronics, and microwave electronics. Advances in the field of electronics have also played a key role in the development of space technology and satellite communications; inaugurated a revolution in the computer industry that led to the introduction of the personal computer; resulted in the introduction of computer-guided robots in factories; produced systems for storing and transmitting data electronically; greatly expanded the market for popular music and culture; and, in the process, transformed life at home, the office, and the factory. Many of these innovations, such as the transistor, had their origins in military research, which needed increasingly complex electronic devices for modern high-tech warfare.
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3. Business (Company) Overview

Sony Corporation is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation and one of the world's largest media conglomerates with revenue of $70.303 billion (as of 2007) based in Minato, Tokyo. Sony is one of the leading manufacturers of electronics, video, communications, video game consoles and information technology products for the consumer and professional markets. Sony Corporation is the electronics business unit and the parent company of the Sony Group, which is engaged in business through its five operating segments electronics, games, entertainment (motion pictures and music), financial services and other. These make Sony one of the most comprehensive entertainment companies in the world. Sony's principal business operations include Sony Corporation (Sony Electronics in the U.S.), Sony Pictures Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Sony Ericsson and Sony Financial Holdings. As a semiconductor maker, Sony is among the Worldwide Top 20 Semiconductor Sales Leaders. Its slogan is Sony. Like no other.
3.1 History
In 1945, after World War II, Masaru Ibuka started a radio repair shop in a bombed-out building in Tokyo. The next year he was joined by his colleague Akio Morita, and they founded a company called Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo K.K, which translates in English to Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation. The company built Japan's first tape recorder called the Type-G. In the early 1950s, Ibuka traveled in the United States and heard about Bell Labs' invention of the transistor. He convinced Bell to license the transistor technology to his Japanese company. While most American companies were researching the transistor for its military applications, Ibuka looked to apply it to communications.
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While the American companies Regency and Texas Instruments built transistor radios first, it was Ibuka's company that made the first commercially successful transistor radios. In August 1956, Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering produced its first coat-pocket sized transistor radio they registered as the TR-55 model. In 1965, Sony reportedly manufactured about 40,000 of its Model TR-72 box-like portable transistor radios and exported the model to North America, the Netherlands and Germany. That same year they made the TR-6, a coat pocket radio which was used by the company to create its "SONY boy" advertising character. The following year, 1967, Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering came out with the TR-63 model, then the smallest (112 71 32 mm) transistor radio in commercial production. It was a worldwide commercial success. University of Arizona professor Michael Brian Schiffer, Ph.D., says, "Sony was not first, but its transistor radio was the most successful. The TR-63 of 1957 cracked open the U.S. market and launched the new industry of consumer microelectronics." By the mid 1950s, American teens had begun buying portable transistor radios in huge numbers, helping to propel the fledgling industry from an estimated 100,000 units in 1955 to 5,000,000 units by the end of 1968. However, this huge growth in portable transistor radio sales that saw Sony rise to be the dominant player in the consumer electronics field was not because of the consumers who had bought the earlier generation of tube radio consoles, but was driven by a distinctly new American phenomenon at the time called rock and roll.
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3.2 Origin of name When Kogyo was looking for a romanized name to use to market themselves, they strongly considered using their initials, TTK. The primary reason they did not is that the railway company Tokyo Kyuko was known as TKK. The company occasionally used the acronym "Totsuko" in Japan, but Morita discovered that Americans had trouble pronouncing that name, during his visit to the United States. Another early name that was tried out for a while was "Tokyo Teletech" until Morita discovered that there was an American company already using Teletech as a brand name. The name "Sony" was chosen for the brand as a mix of the Latin word sony or son(us) and also a little boy sonny, which is the root of sonic and sound as well as familiar word of everybody called a boy in February 1955, and company name changed to SONY in January 1958. Morita pushed for a word that does not exist in any language so that they could claim the word "Sony" as their own (which paid off when they sued a candy producer using the name, who claimed that "Sony" was an existing word in some language). At the time of the change, it was extremely unusual for a Japanese company to use Roman letters instead of kanji to spell its name. The move was not without opposition: TTK's principal bank at the time, Mitsui, had strong feelings about the name. They pushed for a name such as Sony Electronic Industries, or Sony Teletech. Akio Morita was firm, however, as he did not want the company name tied to any particular industry. Eventually, both Ibuka and Mitsui Bank's chairman gave their approval.
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3.3 Sony in India

One of the most recognized brand names in the world today, Sony Corporation, Japan, established its India operations in November 1994, focusing on the sales and marketing of Sony products in the country. In a span of 14 years Sony India has exemplified the quest for excellence in the world of digital lifestyle becoming the countrys foremost consumer electronics brand. With relentless commitment to quality, consistent dedication to customer satisfaction and unparalleled standards of service, Sony India is recognized as a benchmark for new age technology, superior quality, digital concepts and personalized service that has ensured loyal customers and nationwide acclaim in the industry. With brands names such as BRAVIA, Xplod, Sony hi-fi, Handycam, Cybershot WEGA, VAIO, Walkman, Memory stick PlayStation an AIWA, Sony has established it self as a value leader across its various product categories of Audio/Visual Entertainment products, Information and Communications Recording Media, Business and Professional products. In India, Sony has its footprint across all major towns and cities through a distribution network comprising of over 7000 channel partners, 215 Sony World and Sony Exclusive outlets and 21 direct branch locations. Manned by customer friendly and informed sales persons, Sonys exclusive stores Sony World are fast becoming the most visible face of the company in India. Sony India also has a strong service presence across the country with 21 company owned and 172 authorized service centers. A distinctive feature of Sonys service is its highly motivated and well-trained staff that provides the kind of attentive and sensitive service that is rare today.
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Sony is committed to ensuring that both the products and the marketing activities employed truly make a difference to peoples lifestyles and offer them new dimensions of enjoyment experiences which are like no other .
3.4 Company Outline

Company: Managing Director: Date of Establishment: Location: Staff Strength: Share Capital: Share Holding:
Sony India Pvt. Ltd. Mr. Masaru Tamagawa

November 17, 1994 A-31, Mohan Cooperative Industrial Estate, Mathura Road, New Delhi - 110044, India. 636 (as at March 31, 2007) Rs. 550 million 100% subsidiary of Sony Corporation, Japan
Delhi, Haryana, Ludhiana, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Branch Offices: Kolkata, Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Pune, Ahmedabad, Indore, Cochin, Coimbatore, Ghaziabad, Guwahati, Hubli and Ranchi
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Marketing, Sales and After-Sales Service of electronic products & software exports Products: Televisions, Hi-fi Audios, Home Theater systems
Business Activities: and DVD players, Personal Audio (CD/Cassette Radio Players and Walkman), Audio Video Accessories, Car Audio and Visual Systems, Notebooks, Gaming Consoles, Camcorders and Digital Still Cameras, Digital Imaging Accessory Mobile Phones, Recording Media, Broadcast and Professional
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3.5 Notable Sony products, technologies and proprietary formats

Sony has historically been notable for creating its own in-house standards for new recording and storage technologies instead of adopting those of other manufacturers and standards bodies. The most infamous of these was the videotape format war of the early 1980s, when Sony marketed its Betamax system for video cassette recorders against the VHS format developed by JVC. In the end, VHS gained critical mass in the marketplace and became the worldwide standard for consumer VCRs and Sony adopted the format. While Betamax is for all practical purposes an obsolete format, a professional-oriented component video format called Betacam that was derived from Betamax is still used today, especially in the film and television industry.
3.5.1 A Sony VCR

In 1968 Sony introduced its Trinitron brand name for its line of aperture grille cathode ray tube televisions and (later) computer monitors. Trinitron displays are still produced, but only for markets like India and China. Sony discontinued its last Trinitronbased television set in the USA Spring of 2007. Trinitron computer monitors were discontinued in 2005. Sony launched the Betamax videocassette recording format in 1975. The Walkman brand was introduced in 1979. 1982 saw the launch of Sony's professional Betacam videotape format and the collaborative Compact Disc format. In 1983 Sony introduced 90mm micro diskettes (better known as 3.5-inch floppy disks), which it had developed at a time when there were 4" floppy disks and a lot of variations from different companies to replace the then on-going 5.25" floppy disks. Sony had great success and the format became dominant; 3.5" floppy disks gradually became obsolete as they were replaced by
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current media formats. In 1983 Sony launched the MSX, a home computer system, and introduced the world (with their counterpart Philips) to the Compact Disc or CD. In 1984 Sony launched the Discman series which extended their Walkman brand to portable CD products. In 1985 Sony launched their Handycam products and the Video8 format. Video8 and the follow-on hi-band Hi-8 format became popular in the consumer camcorder market. In 1987 Sony launched the 4mm DAT or Digital Audio Tape as a new digital audio tape standard. In addition to developing consumer-based recording media, after the launch of the CD Sony began development of commercially based recording media. In 1986 they launched Write-Once optical discs (WO) and in 1988 launched Magneto-optical discs which were around 125MB size for the specific use of archival data storage. In the early 1990s two high-density optical storage standards were being developed: one was the MultiMedia Compact Disc (MMCD), backed by Philips and Sony, and the other was the Super Density disc (SD), supported by Toshiba and many others. Philips and Sony abandoned their MMCD format and agreed upon Toshiba's SD format with only one modification based on MMCD technology, viz EFMPlus. The unified disc format was called DVD which was marketed in 1997.
3.5.2 Sony MiniDisc

Sony introduced the MiniDisc format in 1993 as an alternative to Philips DCC or Digital Compact Cassette. Since the introduction of MiniDisc, Sony has attempted to promote its own audio compression technologies under the ATRAC brand, against the more widely used MP3. Until late 2004, Sony's Network Walkman line of digital portable music players did not support the MP3 de facto standard
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natively, although the provided software SonicStage would convert MP3 files into the ATRAC or ATRAC3 formats. In 1993, Sony challenged the industry standard Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound format with its newer and more advanced proprietary motion picture digital audio format called SDDS (Sony Dynamic Digital Sound). This format employed eight channels (7.1) of audio opposed to just six used in Dolby Digital 5.1 at the time. Unlike Dolby Digital, SDDS utilized a method of backup by having mirrored arrays of bits on both sides of the film which acted as a measure of reliability in case the film was partially damaged. Ultimately, SDDS has been vastly overshadowed by the preferred DTS (Digital Theatre System) and Dolby Digital standards in the motion picture industry. SDDS was solely developed for use in the theatre circuit; Sony never intended to develop a home theatre version of SDDS. In 1998, Sony launched their Memory Stick format; flash memory cards for use in Sony lines of digital cameras and portable music players. It has seen little support outside of Sony's own products with Secure Digital (SD) cards commanding considerably greater popularity. Sony has made updates to the Memory Stick format with Memory Stick Duo and Memory Stick Micro. Sony and Philips jointly developed the Sony-Philips digital interface format (S/PDIF) and the high-fidelity audio system SACD. The latter has since been entrenched in a format war with DVD-Audio. At present, neither has gained a major foothold with the general public. CDs are preferred by consumers because of their ubiquitous presence in consumer devices.
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3.5.3 The PlayStation 2

In 1994 Sony launched its PlayStation. This successful console was succeeded by the PlayStation 2 in 2000, itself succeeded by the PlayStation 3 in 2006. The PlayStation brand was extended to the portable games market in 2005 by the PlayStation Portable. Sony developed the Universal Media Disc (UMD) optical disc medium for use on the PlayStation Portable. Although Sony tried to push the UMD format for movies, major studios stopped supporting the format in the Spring of 2006. In 2004, Sony built upon its MiniDisc format by releasing Hi-MD. Hi-MD allows the playback and recording of audio on newly-introduced 1GB Hi-MD discs in addition to playback and recording on regular MiniDiscs. Recordings on the Hi-MD Walkmans can be transferred to and from the computer virtually unrestricted, unlike earlier NetMD. In addition to saving audio on the discs, Hi-MD allows the storage of computer files such as documents, videos and photos. Hi-MD introduced the ability to record CD-quality audio with its linear PCM recording feature. It was the first time since MiniDisc's introduction in 1992 that the ATRAC codec could be bypassed and lossless CD-quality audio could be recorded on the small discs. Sony is currently touting its Blu-ray Disc optical disc format, which is likely to compete with Toshiba's HD DVD. As of quarter three of 2007, Blu-ray Disc has the backing of every major motion picture studio except Universal, Paramount and Dreamworks.. In December 2006 Sony debuted their first Blu-ray player, the Sony BDP-S1
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3.6 Manufacturing base
Slightly more than 50% of the electronics' segment's total annual production takes place in Japan, including the production of digital cameras, video cameras, flat panel televisions, personal computers, semiconductors and components such as batteries and Memory Stick.Approximately 65% of the annual production in Japan was destined for other regions. China accounted for slightly more than 10% of total annual production, approximately 70% of which was destined for other regions. Asia, excluding Japan and China, accounted for slightly more than 10% of total annual production with approximately 60% destined for Japan, the US and the EU.The Americas and Europe together accounted for the remaining slightly less than 25% of total annual production, most of which was destined for local distribution and sale.
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3.7 Environmental Record

Sony has received numerous awards and much recognition for their environmental efforts throughout the world. Their achievements in the way of energy and environmental conservation have earned them respect for their green campaign
3.7.1 Works and Policies

Since 1976, Sony has had an Environmental Conference. Sony's policies address their effects on global warming, the environment, and resources. They are taking steps to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases that they put out as well as regulating the products they get from their suppliers in a process that they call "green procurement". Sony has said that they have signed on to have about 75 percent of their Sony Building running on geothermal power . The "Sony Take Back Recycling Program" allows consumers to recycle the electronics products that they buy from Sony by taking them to eCycle (Recycling) drop-off points around the U.S. The company has also developed a biobattery that runs on sugars and carbohydrates that works similarly to the way living creatures work. This is the most powerful small biobattery to date.
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To accessVAIO, an acronym the sales of Sony Vaio laptops in the opportunities for increasing for Hubli-Dharwad region
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Video Audio Integrated Operation
3.8 VAIO
VAIO, an acronym for Video Audio Integrated Operation

is a sub-brand for many of Sony's computer products. The branding was created to distinguish items that encompassed the use of consumer audio and video, as well as being conventional computing products. One example of this was the Sony VAIO W Series personal computer, which functioned as a regular computer and a miniature entertainment center. Although Sony made computers in the 1980s for the Japanese market only, Sony withdrew from the computer business around the turn of the decade. Sony's re-entry to the computer market, this time globally, under the new VAIO brand, started in 1996 with the PCV series of desktops. The VAIO logo also represents the integration of analog and digital technology. The 'VA' represents an analog wave and the 'IO' represents digital binary code.
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3.9 Products
Sony is expanding the use of the VAIO label. It can now be found on notebooks, subnotebooks, desktop, and a hard-disk-based audio player that comes in both 20GB and 40GB variations (called VAIO POCKET player). Network media solutions by Sony will also carry the VAIO brand. High-end VAIO notebooks are usually shipped with Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium or Business, while low end laptops such as N series come with Microsoft Vista Home Basic. VAIO notebooks and desktop are available upon request without pre-installed software at a slightly lower price. Some models no longer ship with a Recovery CD, but a special partition on the hard drive is used for the recovery information, including operating system and all bundled software. VAIO users are prompted to create a set of recovery CDs or DVDs immediately after purchase. VAIO computers come with components from companies such as Intel processors, Seagate Technology or Fujitsu hard drives, Infineon RAM, Sony (usually made by Hitachi) or Matsushita optical drives, Intel or NVIDIA graphics processors and Sony speakers.
3.10 Technology
Sony VAIO models come with Sony's proprietary XBRITE (also named as ClearBright in Japan and Asia-Pacific region) displays. The first model that introduce this feature is the VAIO TR series. It is also the first consumer product to utilize such technology. It is a combination of smooth screen, anti-reflection (AR) coating and high-efficiency lens sheet. Sony claims that the smooth finish provides a sharper screen display, the AR coating prevents external light from scattering when it hits the screen, and the high-efficiency lens sheet provides 1.5 times the brightness improvement over traditional LCD designs, while also extending battery life due to less usage of the LCD backlight.
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The SZ series features both an Intel GMA 950 graphics chip and an NVIDIA graphics chip. These laptops can cold-switch between the GMA 950, to preserve battery life, or the NVIDIA chip, to enhance graphics performance. These will be the only notebooks on the market with this feature, as Sony has patented the technology. The high-end AR Series VAIOs were the first to incorporate a Blu-ray Disc burner. These laptops were designed to be the epitome of high-definition products including a 1080p capable WUXGA (1920 1200 pixels) screen, HDMI output and the aforementioned Blu-ray burner.
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3.11 Corporate Social Responsibility
The Sony Group recognizes that its businesses have direct and indirect impact on the communities in which we operate.
3.11.1 Environmentally Conscious Products & Services by Sony

Sony cares for the environment and therefore that "eco are develops environment mark to
products and services friendly. Sony uses the info" accurately indicate the environment conscious aspect of products Sony cares for the environment and develops the products and services that are environment friendly. Sony has developed a silicon conductor that is environment friendly and small as postal stamp. Sony includes environmental conscious packaging in their design goal.
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4. Quality Policy
4.1Quality Management
Sony is wholeheartedly committed to improving product and service quality from the customer's viewpoint with the aim of maintaining and enhancing customers' trust, confidence and satisfaction. This reflects Sony's belief that its most important goal is to remain a highly trusted partner for its customers.
4.1.2 Philosophy and Policy

Since the start of its operations, Sony has given top priority to providing customer oriented, high-quality products and services as an operating foundation. This philosophy is set forth in the Founding Prospectus drafted in 1946 by Sony's co-founder, Masaru Ibuka. The Sony Group Code of Conduct, established in May 2003, compels Sony to continuously seek ways to comply with or exceed legally mandated standards in all aspects of its business activities to ensure the safety and satisfaction of customers who use its products and/or services. To instill this philosophy more firmly, in January 2007 Sony formulated the Sony Pledge of Quality, which lays out Sony's basic policy on product and service quality in the Electronics business.
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4.1.3 Reinforcing Sony's Quality Control System

Sony is endeavoring to introduce new product quality improvement measures into all processes, from development, planning, design and manufacturing to sales and service activities. Such measures include: Establishing the position of Corporate Executive in Charge of Product Quality and Safety, who is responsible for managing and overseeing efforts to improve product and service quality and safety and to respond to quality and safety issues; Appointing personnel within each product and business group who are ultimately responsible for quality to spearhead initiatives in the areas for which they are responsible; Holding regular Quality Strategy Meetings, which consist of Sony's president and top management from each business group, including manufacturing and marketing executives from the Electronics business, to discuss and set policies, strategies and key measures relating to product quality; and Formulating corporate quality standards applied to Sony's electronics products, focusing on such criteria as product safety and performance, labeling and services. These standards are updated continuously to reflect technological advances, changes in applicable legal and regulatory requirements and social changes
4.1.4 Customer Feedback

Sony makes active use of customer feedback to improve its products. Complaints, suggestions, ideas and reports of malfunctions received from customers at the Customer Information Center after purchase are promptly and accurately evaluated and disseminated to the planning and design groups so that improvements in product quality can be made in a timely fashion.
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4.1.5Utilizing Customer Feedback
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4.1.6 Product Quality Information Channel

It is vital to detect product quality-related problems early. Sony therefore established the Product Quality Information Channel in 2003 to gather product qualityrelated information, including reports of problems, as well as opinions from Sony Group employees. Employees can send messages to the Product Quality Information Channel website. This can be done when, during the course of their work, they discover a problem related to product quality that they cannot solve or deal with or when a quality-related problem occurs while they are using a Sony product. After the Product Quality Information Channel conducts fact-finding studies regarding the information gathered, it proposes and introduces measures to avoid potential problems and prevent previous problems from recurring. As of April 30, 2007, Sony had received a cumulative total of more than 1,000 reports since the establishment of the Product Quality Information Channel. The diverse range of information received has included proposals to make products and manuals more user-friendly, and has led to more than 700 improvements.
Breakdown of Product Quality Improvements
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4.2 Environment Policy

Sony India is committed to comply with Sony Group Environment Vision (SGEV) and to continually improve Environment Performance in our office.
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5. Collaborations
Mergers, acquisitions, and joint ventures
1988 CBS Records Group from CBS. It was renamed "Sony Music Entertainment". 1989 Columbia Pictures Entertainment from Coca Cola for US$3.4 billion. It was subsequently renamed "Sony Pictures Entertainment" in 1991. 1993 Acquired Psygnosis Limited a computer games company based in Liverpool, UK. Psygnosis director Ian Hetherington was made Managing Director of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. 1995 Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, a 50:50 joint venture of Sony Corporation of America and Michael Jackson. 1997 ST Liquid Crystal Display Corporation (STLCD), a 50:50 joint venture of Sony Corporation and Toyota Industries Corporation. 2001 Sony Ericsson, a 50:50 joint venture of Sony Corporation and Ericsson AB, was established in October. 2002 Aiwa Corporation in October. 2004 S-LCD Corporation, a joint venture of Sony Corporation and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd (Samsung Electronics: 50% plus 1 share, Sony: 50% minus 1 share) was established in April. 2004 On July 20, 2004, the EU approved a 50-50 merger between Sony Music Entertainment and BMG. The new company was named Sony BMG Music Entertainment and, as of 2005, holds a 21.5% share in the global music market, behind worldwide leader Universal Music Group, which has a 25.5% share.
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2005 On April 8, 2005, The MGM Company (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and United Artists) was acquired by a Sony-led consortium (Providence Equity Partners 29%, Texas Pacific Group 21%, Sony 20%, Comcast 20%, DLJ Merchant Banking Partners 7% and Quadrangle Group 3%) finalised the deal to purchase the film studio for about $4.8 billion, including $2bn in debts from ArmenianAmerican Kirk Kerkorian. 2006 Sony NEC Optiarc Inc, a 55:45 (Sony 55%, NEC 45%) joint venture of Sony Corporation and NEC Corporation, was established in April. 2006 Acquired digital Single Lens Reflex (Digital SLR) cameras section from Konica Minolta including digital camera support and servicing. 2006 Acquired Grouper Networks (now Crackle, Inc.), a Sausalito-based startup company that created a user generated video sharing platform and P2P technology for $65M. 2007 Qreatic Design Inc, a 50:50 joint venture of Sony Corporation and Qimonda AG. 2007 Moversa GmbH, a 50:50 joint venture of Sony Corporation and NXP Semiconductors
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6. Product Line & Length
Sony India
Home Television & Projector Video/Audio Blu-ray Disc Player DVD Player DVD/HDD Recorder DVD Portable
IT & Computing Laptop & Computer Memory Stick Flash / Data Media Storage Media
Portable Audio
LCD TV
MP3 Walkman
CRT TV Home Theatre Projector

3LCD Projection TV
CD Walkman
Voice Recorder
Business Projector Public Display Panel
Hi-Fi System Home Audio Accessories
Enterprise Storage Solutions
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Sony India
Game
Storage & Recording
Digital Photography
Video Camera High Definition Video Camera Standard Definition Video Camera Standard Definition Video Camera
Play station 3 Play Station 2 PlayStation Portable

Projection TV
Memory Stick
Digital SLR
USB Storage Media Data Storage Media Storage Media Professional Media Video/Audio Media
Digital Camera Digital Photo Printer
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7. Management Level
MD
National Sales Head
Regional Sales Manager
Area Sales Manager
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8. Major Competitors
The major competitors for Sony Vaio in this region are HP/Compaq, Acer, Lenovo and the major share is taken by HP/Compaq laptops as they are having the brand name as well as competing products which match the international standards and are of good quality. In Sony the starting prices are from forty thousand and plus where as HP/Compaq has thirty plus thousand price tags. If a person buying laptop with price in his mind then there is no chance of him going for Sony as it is not affordable, in case he is ready to bear the price for the price of forty thousand plus when he is able to get better configuration than what he gets in Sony then also he will think twice while buying. Sony products are known for the quality there is no doubt about it but the price tags make them unhappy. People who are affordable and they are brand conscious only go for Sony. In some cases the user was given a Sony laptop by his organization. The looks are most preferred of the Sony products. Acer and Lenovo are also having the higher end models where in they tap the segment which is price conscious and wants higher configuration. Here these companies produce at a low cost and do not charge premium prices on there products as they want to compete in the market and increase their market share and with small margin they want to increase their profit.
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9. Various Branch Offices and Service centers

The Head office of Sony India Pvt Ltd is located in New Delhi. Sony Branch offices

Haryana, Ludhiana, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Pune, Ahmedabad, Indore, Cochin, Coimbatore, Ghaziabad, Guwahati, Hubli and Ranchi
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10. Employee base

Sony India currently has employee base of 636 people working in India in various branch offices.
10.1 Business Activities

Marketing, Sales and After-Sales Service of electronic products & software exports Products: Televisions, Hi-fi Audios, Home Theater systems and DVD players, Personal Audio (CD/Cassette Radio Players and Walkman), Audio Video Accessories, Car Audio and Visual Systems, Notebooks, Gaming Consoles, Camcorders and Digital Still Cameras, Digital Imaging Accessory (Batteries, Chargers, Microphone, Photo Printers), Mobile Phones, Recording Media and Energy Devices, Broadcast and Professional products
10.2 Careers
Join a Team that makes it happen We are committed to continually seek talented and creative minds working in harmony with each other to bring new emotions and wonders to the world. As a leading Consumer Electronics organization we look forward to your initiative, enthusiasm with imagination and invite you to explore unparalleled career opportunities while creating an exciting future together. We provide our employees a vibrant, diverse and stimulating environment with enormous opportunities to explore new dimensions of creativity and Hi-Technology thus enhancing their potential to the optimum.
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We invite you to join our organization whose forte are its ethics and values, which are reflected in our actions and people practices.
11. Financial Performance

Sony Corporation and Consolidated Subsidiaries
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11.1 Business Overview
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Electronics
The Electronics business is comprised of televisions, video, audio, information and communications equipment, Laptops, components, semiconductors and other products. To achieve future growth and to reinforce competitiveness and profitability, Sony is concentrating investment of its Electronics business resources in development and commercialization in the areas of high definition (HD) products, mobile electronics and semiconductors and other devices, all of which are crucial to the differentiation of Sonys products.
Review of Operations
In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2007, the global market for liquid crystal display (LCD) televisions totaled approximately 51.5 million units, 2.5 times its size in the previous year. Although competition in the operating environment for the flat panel television industry was harsh overall, efforts to heighten the appeal of our BRAVIA line of LCD televisions by focusing on key strategic product featuresnamely larger screen sizes and Full HD (1920 x 1080-pixel) resolutionsupported brisk sales worldwide, pushing shipments of BRAVIA televisions up 2.3 times, to approximately 6.3 million units, and earning us the top global market share.
* Source: DisplaySearch, revenue basis for calendar year 2006
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11.1.1 Digital Camera

The digital camera market continued to grow in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2007, climbing 22%, to around 79 million units, reflecting robust replacement demand in Europe and North America. In this environment, Sony recorded brisk sales worldwide thanks to products that responded to market needs, including the affordably priced Cyber-shot W series and S series in Europe and North America and the slimdesign Cyber-shot T series in Asia. As a consequence, shipments of Sony digital cameras increased 26%, to approximately 17 million units.
11.1.2
For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2007, the global market for video cameras remained level at about 18 million units, of which Sony accounted for approximately 7.45 million units, a slight decline from the previous fiscal year. From 8mm video, the industry format for consumer-use video cameras, to digital video (DV) and high definition video (HDV), which enables users to record and replay HD video, we have led the industry by striving constantly to commercialize Handycam camcorders that deliver improved image quality and convenience. In the period under review, we launched the first consumer-use video camera based on the AVCHD HD video recorder format, which enables recording and storing of HD Video on random-access media. We will continue to enhance our lineup of HD camcorders and promote the conversion of personal video content to HD.
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11.1.3
BLU RAY
In the period under review, we rolled out Blu-ray Disc players in the U.S. market while in Japan we launched two Blu-ray Disc recorder models. Capable of recording full-resolution content from HD broadcasting and HD video cameras, Bluray Disc recorders can also play motion pictures and other content released in Blu-ray Disc format, as well as support digital slide shows and playback applications, thereby increasing the enjoyment to be gained from HD technology. In the portable audio category, we continued to enhance our lineup of Walkman digital music players. These players exhibit superb sound clarity, thereby fulfilling the quintessential objective of any piece of audio equipmentto produce superior sound that enhances the music listening experience. We also launched a top-of-the-line Walkman series that delivers outstanding sound quality and high-resolution video playback in a small, lightweight package featuring simple operability that takes advantage of the large screen.
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Game
PLAYSTATION3 Launched in Japan on November 11, 2006, then successively in North America and some Asian countries on November 17, 2006, and in Europe on March 23, 2007, the PS3 platform is expanding. Despite the impact of a production delay for a key PS3 component, SCE succeeded in shipping a total of 5.5 million units worldwide during the fiscal year. For the European launch, SCE took advantage of the four months following the Japanese/North American launches to assemble an initial hardware shipment of 1 million units and approximately 30 software titles, thereby transforming PS3 into its most successful platform launch yet in Europe.
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Entertainment
In the Entertainment business, Sony is primarily engaged in motion picture and television production and distribution, music recording and music publishing. Enjoying leading industry positions in many of its businesses, Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. (SPE) is comprised of its motion pictures, television programming, home entertainment and digital entertainment businesses. Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc. (SMEJ) and SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT, a joint venture with Bertelsmann AG, are engaged in the music recording and distribution businesses, producing many hit songs and award-winning artists. Sony/ATV Music Publishing is engaged in the acquisition and exploitation of musical copyrights.
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11.2 Research and Development

R&D expenses for the period increased 12.1 billion, or 2.3%, to 543.9 billion from the prior fiscal year. This is equivalent to 7.1% of net sales and operating revenue, excluding the Financial Services segment, which was down from 7.8% a year earlier. R&D expenses in the Electronics segment increased 22.3 billion, or 5.3%, to 440.4 billion, while expenses in the Game segment decreased 10.8 billion, or 9.9%, to 97.9 billion.
R&D Highlights for the Fiscal Year Ended March 31, 2007 New Agreements
Sony joined an alliance of industry-leading consumer electronics and telecommunications companies from Japan, Korea, Europe and North America in March 2007 to establish the Open IPTV2 Forum. The organization will set a single global standard for Internet protocol television (IPTV) technologies to deliver video content via networks. In this forum, the alliance members will develop technology to offer consumers easy access to the content and services offered by various providers via mobile and home electronics.
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11.3 Corporate Governance

Sony is committed to strong corporate governance. As a part of this effort, Sony has adopted Company with Committees corporate governance system. 11.4 Governance Structure Sony Corporations statutory entities are comprised of the Board of Directors, which is appointed by resolution at the shareholders meeting; three committees (the Nominating Committee, Audit Committee and Compensation Committee), consisting of directors named by the Board of Directors; and the Corporate Executive Officers, who are appointed by resolution of the Board of Directors. In addition to these statutory entities, Sony has Corporate Executives who carry out business operations within designated areas.
11.5 Corporate Governance Structure
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12. Theoretical Background for the project work

12.1 Channel Management
The channel decision is very important. In theory at least, there is a form of tradeoff: the cost of using intermediaries to achieve wider distribution is supposedly lower. Indeed, most consumer goods manufacturers could never justify the cost of selling direct to their consumers, except by mail order. In practice, if the producer is large enough, the use of intermediaries (particularly at the agent and wholesaler level) can sometimes cost more than going direct. Many of the theoretical arguments about channels therefore revolve around cost. On the other hand, most of the practical decisions are concerned with control of the consumer. The small company has no alternative but to use intermediaries, often several layers of them, but large companies 'do' have the choice. However, many suppliers seem to assume that once their product has been sold into the channel, into the beginning of the distribution chain, their job is finished. Yet that distribution chain is merely assuming a part of the supplier's responsibility; and, if he has any aspirations to be market-oriented, his job should really be extended to managing, albeit very indirectly, all the processes involved in that chain, until the product or service arrives with the end-user. This may involve a number of decisions on the part of the supplier:

Channel membership Channel motivation Monitoring and managing channels
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12.1
Channel conflicts
Channel conflict refers to a situation in which business partners clash in some
of their operations, such as distribution networks, in such a manner that it causes stress to the relationship, effectively turning them into both competitors and partners simultaneously. In the Internet-driven business world, channel conflict is a wellknown phenomenon. As the online medium has forced separate players closer together, it has resulted in many of them stepping on each other's toes. Also called disintermediation, channel conflict is a problem that many in the ecommerce world aggressively took on as a consequence of devising an online strategy. In the process, the chain of business relationships became scrambled and confusing. Drastically lower transaction costs and higher margins for merchants make Internetbased direct customer sales irresistible. While companies fret over alienating their resellers, they risk losing valuable time and market share to aggressive competitors that move to become online distribution fixtures. These simple economics lay at the heart of channel conflict. Forrester Research, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based market research firm, found that 66 percent of the consumer goods manufacturers it surveyed listed channel conflict as the chief barrier to online sales. However, the fact of channel conflict appears to be inevitable as more companies set up shop online. Companies have thus begun turning to strategies that will enable them to manage channel conflict and eventually turn it into an advantage.Along with the advent of e-commerce, many merchants moved their distribution outlets online to reach customers directly and save on transaction costs. This caused powerful distributor networks, which often enjoyed extremely valuable relationship with the merchants, to take offense at the abandonment of their businesses. For example, manufacturers who have established brand name recognition and loyalty may want to reap greater returns on their sales by bypassing retailers, with whom they may have
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built lasting relationships that contributed greatly to both parties' success. Meanwhile, distributorsperhaps the most endangered victims of disintermediationare increasingly challenged to prove they add immediate value and justify their margins. According to InformationWeek, one method was for distributors to forego the assumption of ownership over inventory and instead charge manufacturers a transaction fee, while assuming order-management and other value-added duties. Meanwhile, a whole new crop of distributors rose up to encroach on the e-commerce distribution channels, marketing themselves as e-commerce services that handle logistics and other tasks specifically for dot-coms. More important than what the firm values in these cases is what the customer values in each segment of business. If customers have come to appreciate, expect, and depend upon a certain type of service and presentation they received through an experienced retailer, a manufacturer may be shooting itself in the foot by trying to sell direct to customers over the Web. No matter how important the drive to establish an online presence and an Internet-based distribution scheme, the ultimate goal is to turn channel conflict into channel harmony.
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12.2 Sales Related Marketing Policies
Sales related marketing policies impact upon the functions and operations of the sales department. These marketing policies delineate the guidelines within which effort to reach personal-selling objectives are made. The three major types are
Product policies (What to sell) Distribution policies (to whom to sell) Pricing policies
Sales related marketing policies directly influence the jobs of sales executives. Clearly, these policies constitute the company-imposed marketing frame work within which sales executives and the departments they lead must operate.
Product Policies
Relation to Product objectives
Product policies serve as guidelines for making product decisions. They derive from product objectives .product policies define the nature of superiority from the standpoint of the product users.
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Product line policy

Policies on the width of a product line are classified as either short line. The company following a short-line policy handles only part of a line, while the company with the full-line policy handles all or most of the items making up a line.
Distribution Policies
Distribution Policies are important determinants of the functions of the sales department. The choice of particular marketing channel or channels set the pattern for sales force operation, both geographically and as to the customers from whom sales force operations, both geographically and as to the customers from whom sales personnel solicit orders.
Pricing policies
Every company has a policy regarding the level at which its products are priced relative to the competition. If competition is price based, a company sells its products at same price as its competitors. If there is non-price competition, the choice is one of the alternative of three polices. Meeting the competition. Pricing above the competition. Pricing under the competition.
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13. Rationale behind choice of the project

The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day. Never lose a holy curiosity Albert Einstein US (German-born) physicist (1879 - 1955) . A project always starts with a definition of problem. Once a problem is defined it completes the part of the project work. The questioning gives the exact answer for the problem defined. The first portable computer was Osborne 1, which was developed in 1981. Manny Fernandez was the first who developed the personal portable computer for the business executives in 1981 and named it Laptop. The two commonly used terms are being used for the laptops, one is laptop and other is notebook. Sony Vaio is a well know brand in the Bangalore region and is performing well in southern part of Karnataka, the Hubli-Dharwad region is up coming area where in there is lot of potential for the companies to increase their market share. There are players like HP/Compaq, Lenovo and Acer which are having the considerable amount of market share. Sony laptops have made their presence felt in the market but it is now intending to increase the market share and the need for this project is to determine the opportunities available for its growth and to determine the gaps in the competitors within their distribution channel till the end users. This will help SONY to fill those gaps in its distribution channels through which it can make customers delight.
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Through this project SONY will not only be able to get to know about the Gaps of its competitors it will also be able to trace the of its channel and fill those Gaps for providing the effective service to its channel members and end users. In this project a survey will be conducted on the retailers as well as distributors of the laptops and data will be collected. Along with this information from end user of the laptops will also be collected in order to know the customer preference and their buying behavior. The company will get the latest information about the retailers i.e. data base of the retailers along with filled questionnaires which they have filled will be submitted to the organization. As for the end users a proportionate number of users as will as potential customers opinion will be considered so that company can design their marketing strategies to suit the needs of its customers. The study for laptop is essential as more people are buying laptops and the competition among the players is increasing. When the company is having sufficient data about the market then it becomes easy to have an edge over its competitors. Considering all these aspects it is essential to study the potential of the market, competitors strategy, finding the Gaps in the competitors and filling those Gaps so that there can be an edge over the competitors.
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14. Utility of the project

14.1 Benefits to the organization
Sony will be benefited with the information collected by me on the Sony Vaio Laptops from the retail partners and further use it as per their requirement. Sony will be able to estimate the market share of their products. Through this project they will come to know about the performance of their competitors like HP/Compaq, Acer, Lenovo, and other in the laptop market. The retailers mention about the satisfaction on the aspects like cost of the laptop, its performance and distribution channel and various other details which will be of prime importance to the company. The report contains the data collected from end user also and potential customers. The end users are again segregated into segments like Sony laptop users and non-Sony laptop users, where in the information given by them is valuable and company will come to know the reason why people buy Sony and why people dont buy Sony. The information is also collected from the potential customers who are willing to buy the laptop and their preference is mentioned which is a vital information to the company The data is collected from major cities of North Karnataka which include Hubli-Dharwad which tells the problem faced by the retail partner in the city like advertising problem, service problem. The suggestions and opinions are collected in this report which is a valuable.
14.2 Benefits to me as a student

As a student I came to know the market condition in the IT field. I came to know about laptops, cost, usage, types and various other things.
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Through this project I was able to know the distribution channel in the IT field.
15. Introduction to the project work

15.1 Background
The project in Sony Vaio Laptop is an interesting area as it gives a wide scope for study of the market of the laptop as well as the products of the competitors as well as the strategies adopted by them in order to increase market share. The project is done mainly to determine the problems faced by the Sony in selling the laptops through its retailers and also to find out the exact reason why the Sony product sale is not increasing in the Twin-Cities. As in the IT market the retailers play a crucial role in promoting the goods along with the companies which produce them. If there is no correlation between them then there would not be much sales for the company and retailers also does get any benefit. The Sony India Pvt Ltd is into laptop business from past many years and it is performing were well in the metropolitan cities but the performance is not up to the mark in up country region. The competitors like HP/Compaq, Lenovo, Acer have been doing good in these regions also. The competitors have introduced the products which very much suitable to this region. HP/Compaq is providing the laptops at a very competitive price and they are also with a latest configuration. Sony is know for the brand and quality but unfortunately only those people buy who are very much brand and quality conscious. The people in up country region are not at all ready to pay the premium price for the laptops.
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15.2 Situation Analysis

The name Sony has a very good image in the market but the laptop sale in the up country is not satisfactory to the Management. It has taken initiative to increase the sales and its market share. The problem here is more of awareness among the retailers and customers. The retailers are not promoting the products to market because of vivid issues. Some are not satisfied with price of laptop in some part of the region but they are satisfied with the margin what they are getting. There are issues like some retailers are not satisfied with the regional distributors as they buy from the national distributors. They buy in bulk and avail greater discount on the purchases than they buy it from the regional distributor. There are retailers who are not aware about the sales office of Sony in Hubli. The retailers are not getting any promotional things like glow sign board or any posters. The retailers are not having the latest product ranges and their price list. The promotion is less compared to HP/Compaq. The situation is such that the laptops are very good but due to lack advertisement and promotional activities and competition they are not able to increase the sales. The product quality is very good compared to its competitors but due to high cost of the product people are not buying. Some retailers are not satisfied with the promotional activities and margin they are getting from the channel. In order to increase their market share retailers are skipping the distributor and buying products from National distributors. This is seriously affecting the sales of regional distributors. The project is undertaken to determine the problems of sales of Sony laptops in Hubli-Dharwad region, data is collected from the retailers, end-users as well as potential customers
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Topic of the study

To assess the opportunities for increasing the sales of Sony Vaio laptops in Hubli-Dharwad region
Objectives of the study

1. To determine the reasons for low sales of the Sony Vaio Laptops as compared to other brand laptops in the Hubli-Dharwad region. 2. To determine the possibilities of increasing the sales of Sony Vaio Laptops in Hubli-Dharwad region. 3. To determine the gaps in the distribution channel of the Sony Vaio laptops. 4. To determine the satisfaction level of retailers regarding the promotional strategies for laptops undertaken by Sony in Hubli-Dharwad region.
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16. Methodology adopted

Primary data Primary data is first hand information that has to be collected by the researcher from the respondents of Hubli-Dharwad market i.e. retailers & end users of the laptop. Through personal interview method with the help of questionnaire. Analysis, interpretation, summary of findings, conclusions and recommendations are completely based on primary data. Secondary data Secondary data are data that were developed for some purpose other then helping to solve the problem at hand. After identifying and defining the research problem and determining specific information required solving the problem, the researchers task is to look for the type and sources of data which may yield the desired results. The research will not be complete without the complete reference to the relevant secondary data.
Type of Research
Descriptive Research and Explorative research will be used for conducting the survey.
Sampling method
Methodology adopted is, Non probability, Convenience sampling method techniques. Individual sampling unit is taken for the Sampling method. 40 samples of retailers and 120 samples of the end users of the laptop i.e. the 80 number is broken into 2 segments mainly end users of Sony Vaio and other brand laptops. 40 Samples of potential customers is also considered. In the end users and
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potential again there will be 3 segments consisting of Professionals, Business class and students.
Samples
Distributors & Retailer
Potential Customers
End Users
Professional
Professionals
Business Class
Business Class
Students
Students
Sampling frame
The entire Hubli-Dharwad region was covered.
Sampling unit
40 retailers & 80 end-users & 40 potential customers were taken to conduct survey in Hubli-Dharwad region. A total
Tools and techniques of data collection and interpretation of data

For the purpose of collecting primary data, personal interview method with the help of questionnaire will be gathered from retailers & 80 end-users & 40 potential customers of Hubli-Dharwad region. For the purpose of analyzing, processing,
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interpreting the data, SPSS analysis will be used which will be presented in the tables followed by an appropriate analysis and graphical representations by different charts.
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17. Findings Retailers Findings

2) Which brand of laptops do you sell?
Sl.No 1 2 3 4 5 Source Sony Hp/Compaq Lenovo Acer Other No of Respondents 36.00 37.00 39.00 36.00 19.00 Percentage 90.00 97.50 92.5 90.00 47.50
Percentage of Brands offered by Retailers

100.00 80.00 60.00 Percentage 40.00 20.00 0.00 Sony Hp/Compaq Lenovo Acer Other
Inference
Among the 40 respondents surveyed 97 % respondents sell Compaq/HP, which is the largest selling brand in upcountry market. It is followed by Lenovo in the 2 nd position with 92.5 %, followed by Sony and Acer sharing 3rd position with 90 % & others with 47.50 % respondents respectively offering to end users.
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3) How many Laptops do you sell per month?

Sl. NO 1 2 3 4 Options Less than 10 above 10 less than 20 above 20 less than 30 more than 30 No of Respondents 27 13 0 0 Percentage 67.5 32.5 0 0
Lap to p s So ld p e r mo n th b y Re taile rs 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Less than 10 above 10 less than 20 above 20 less than 30 more than 30
* Note: Each respondent (retailer) sell more than one brand of laptop.
Inference
Among the 40 respondents 67.5 % of them sell less than 10 laptops per month, 32.5 % of them sell more than 10 but less than 20 laptops per month.
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4) How many Sony laptops do you sell per month?

Sl. NO 1 2 3 4 Options Less than 5 above 5 less than 15 above 15 less than 20 more than 20 No of Respondents 38 2 0 0 Percentage 95 5 0 0
100 80 60 40 20 0 Less than 5 above 5 less than 15 above 15 less than 20 more than 20
Inference
Among the 40 respondents 95 % of them sell less than 5 Sony laptops per month, only 5 % of them sell more than 5 but less than 15 Sony laptops.
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5) Do you supply laptops to Government Organizations? If Yes, are you aware of DGS & D Scheme available on Sony Laptop?
Yes No Respondents 12 28 Percentage 30.00 70.00 Aware 27.50 Not aware 2.50
70.00 27.50 30.00 2.50
30.00
Inference
Among the 40 respondents 30% sell to the government organization and in that 30% respondents 27.50% of them are aware of DGS & D Scheme available in Sony, only 2.50 % are not aware of scheme. 70% of respondents do not supply to government organizations.
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6) From where do you get the Sony Laptops?

Sl.No 1 2 3 4 Source National distributor Regional distributor Other stockiest Combination of the above No of Respondents 6 16 2 16 Percentage 15.0 40.0 5.0 40.0
15%
40% National distributor Regional distributor Other stockist Combination of the above 40%
5%
Inference
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Among the respondents 40 % of them purchase from regional distributor 15 % from national distributor, 40 % is combination of the distributors they buy from national and regional distributors also, only 5 % buy from other stockiest.
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7) Do you get information about latest Sony Laptops and promotional offers?
Yes No Respondents 14 26 Percentage 35.00 65.00
Promotional offers received by Retailers
100.00 80.00 60.00 40.00 20.00 0.00 Yes No Percentage
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Inference
Among the respondents 65 % percent do not get latest information about the Sony laptops only 35 % get latest information.
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8) Please rate your satisfaction level about the Sony Laptops

Sl.No 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Highly Parameters Dissatisfied Dissatisfied Product Quality 0.00 0.00 Advertisement & Promotions 10.00 30.00 Service Support 0.00 10.00 Availability of product 0.00 25.00 Pricing 17.50 50.00 Distribution Channel 2.50 30.00 Overall Satisfaction 0.00 45.00 Neutral 7.50 35.00 42.50 45.00 25.00 45.00 30.00 Highly Satisfied Satisfied 40.00 52.50 25.00 45.00 30.00 7.50 17.50 22.50 0.00 2.50 0.00 0.00 5.00 2.50
60.00
45.00
30.00
15.00
0.00
P rodu ct Qu ality Adve rtis em en t & S e rvice Su pp ort P rom otio ns H igh ly D is s atis fied
Availa bility o f p ro du ct N eutral
P ricing
D is tribu tion C ha nn el Sa tis fied
Ove rall Sa tis fa ctio n H igh ly Sa tis fied
D is s a tis fie d
Inference
Among the respondents 40 % are satisfied and 52.50 % are highly satisfied with product and 10 % percent are highly dissatisfied with the Advertising & Promotion. 30 % respondents are dissatisfied. 35% of them say they are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied. In the pricing of product 50 % respondents are dissatisfied
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and 17.50 % people are highly dissatisfied. 30 % respondents are not satisfied with distribution channel. Overall 45% is the dissatisfaction level with Sony.
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9) Rank the following in order of their importance for their contribution in increasing the sales of Sony Laptops
Sl.No 1 2 3
Options Reduce the cost of Laptops Increase Advertising and Promotions Provide good margins to retailers
Weights 88 71 81
Weighted Avg 2.2 1.775 2.025
Rank 3 1 2
Weighted Avg 1.775 2.20 2.025
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Contributing factors for increasing the sale of Sony laptops
1 2 3
Reduce the cost of Laptops
Rank Increase Advertising and Promotions Provide good margins to retailers
Inference
Among the respondents first preference was given to increase the advertisement and promotion, second preference was given to provide good margins to laptops and third preference was given to reduce the cost of laptop.
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End-users Findings
1. Do you own a laptop?
Options Yes No
Respondents 80 40
Percentage 66.67 33.33
Own a laptop
80.00 70.00 60.00 50.00 40.00 30.00 20.00 10.00 0.00 Yes No
Inference Among the 80 respondents 66.67 % of the respondents own a laptop and 33.33 % of them do not own a laptop.
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3. Why you did not purchase Sony laptop? (Other than Sony laptop users)
Sl. NO 1 2 3 4
Options
No of Respondents
Percentage 62.5 5 5 27.5
Price Features Availability Awareness
25 2 2 11
Reason for not purchasing Sony Laptop
Price Features Availability Aw areness
Inference Among the respondents 62.5 percent of them said they did buy Sony laptop because of the price factor. 27.5 % of them said they were not aware of Sony laptops, 5 % of them said they were not satisfied with features and 5 % of them said laptop was not available with retailer while purchasing.
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4. What made you to choose the brand, you are using now?
Sl. NO 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Options Cost Quality Service Brand Name Features Looks Battery backup Weight
No of Respondents 21 17 5 9 13 6 4 5
Percentage 26.25 21.25 6.25 11.25 16.25 7.5 5 6.25
Which brand are you using now?
Cost 27% 21% 6% Quality Service Brand Name Features 0% 6% 5% 8% 16% Looks 11% Battery backup Weight
Inference Among the respondents 26.26 % said they bought the laptop because of price factor 21.25 % said because of product quality and only 11.25 percent of the people bought because of brand name. 16.25 percent of people bought because of features available in that laptop.
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5. What is the price of your laptop?
Sl. NO 1 2 3 4
Options
No of Respondents 21 16 29 14
Percentage 26.25 20 36.25 17.5
25000 to 35000 > 35000 to 45000 > 45000 to 55000 > 55000
Price of the laptop owned by users

40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 25000 to 35000 > 35000 to 45000 > 45000 to 55000 > 55000
Inference Among the 80 respondents 36.25 % of people own the laptop which is priced between 45000 to 55000. 20 % of the people own a laptop which is priced between 35000 to 45000. 26.25 % of the people bought in the range of 25000 to 35000, only 17.5 % of the people bought in the range of more than 55000.
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6. What was the major factor that influenced your buying decision?
Sl. NO 1 2 3 4 5 Options No of Respondents 23 20 9 27 1 Percentage 28.75 25.00 11.25 33.75 1.25
Advertisements Friends Family Retailer None
Influencing Factor
25%
11%
Advertisements Friends Family Retailer None

34%
29%
1%
Inference Among the respondents 33.75 % of the respondents decision was based on the influence by the retailer, 28.75 % were influenced by the advertisement, 25 % were
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influenced by their friends opinion, and 11.25 % were influenced by their family decision.
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7. What tasks will you be performing with the notebook?
Sl. NO 1 2 3 4
Options
No of Respondents
Percentage 36.25 22.50 15.00 26.25
Use it for MS Office applications Programming & Designing Watching movie & playing games All the above
29 18 12 21
60.00
40.00
20.00
0.00 Use it for MS Programming & Watching All the above Office Designing movie & playing applications games
Inference Among the respondents 36.25 % of them use laptops for office application purpose, 22 % use the laptop for Programming & Designing, 26.25 % said they use it for all the applications.
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8. Rate your laptop based on the following parameters based on your level of satisfaction
Sl.No 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Parameters Quality Durability Battery Backup Features Brand Price looks Service Support Highly Dissatisfied 0.00 1.25 3.75 2.50 3.75 16.25 1.25 6.25 Dissatisfied Neutral Satisfied 7.50 8.75 47.50 3.75 21.25 53.75 15.00 26.25 48.75 20.00 15.00 45.00 5.00 16.25 33.75 10.00 21.25 40.00 7.50 20.00 41.25 10.00 33.75 38.75 Highly Satisfied 36.25 20.00 6.25 17.50 41.25 12.50 30.00 11.25
Level of Satisfaction
60.00 50.00 40.00 30.00 20.00 10.00 0.00 Quality Durability Battery Backup Highly Dissatisfied Features Dissatisfied Brand Neutral Satisfied Price looks Service Support
Highly Satisfied
Inference Among the respondents 36.25 % of them are highly satisfied with the quality, 40% of them are satisfied with the price, only 20% of them said they are not satisfied with features available, 16.25% of them said they were highly dissatisfied either the price paid to the laptop, the service support was 38.5 % satisfactory to the respondents, 48.25 % were satisfied with the battery backup.
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2. What is your purpose of buying a laptop?

Sl. NO 1 2 3 4 Options No of Respondents Percentage 47.5 2.5 17.5 32.5
Use it for MS Office applications Programming & Designing Watching movie & playing games All the above
19 1 7 13
Purpose of Buying Use it for MS Office applications Programming & Designing
3%
18%
47%
Watching movie & playing games

32%
All the above
Inference Among the respondents 47.5 % of them would use laptops for office application purpose, 2.5 % would use the laptop for Programming & Designing, 32.5 % said they use it for all the applications.
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3. In what price band you are planning to buy a laptop?

Sl. NO 1 2 3 4 Options No of Respondents 7 21 7 5 Percentage 17.5 52.5 17.5 12.5
25000 to < 35000 > 35000 to < 45000 > 45000 to < 55000 > 55000
What price band you are planning to buy a laptop
60 50 40 30 20 10 0 25000 to < 35000 > 35000 to < 45000 > 45000 to < 55000 > 55000 Percentage
Inference Among the respondents 52.5 % of people said they would buy the laptop which is priced between 35000 to 45000. 17.5 % of the people said they would own a laptop which is priced between 45000 to 55000. 17.5 % of the people would buy in the range
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of 25000 to 35000, only 17.5 % of the people said they would buy in the price range of more than 55000.
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4. What are the important parameters that you look in for, while buying a laptop?
Sl. NO 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Options Cost Quality Service Brand Name Features Looks Battery backup Weight No of Respondents 11 10 3 4 6 3 1 2 Percentage 27.5 25 7.5 10 15 7.5 2.5 5
Parameters to buy the Laptop

24% 27% Cost 8% Quality Service Brand Name Features Looks Battery backup 10% 5% 3% 8% 15% Weight
Inference Among the respondents 27.5 % of the people said price of the laptop is the most important factor for them, but 25 % of the people said quality is the priority for
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them. 15% of the People give importance to features and 10 % to the brand name 7.5 % weight-age is given to the looks of the laptop.
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5. You are planning to buy which brand?

Sl. NO 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Options No of Respondents 14 4 5 9 6 2 0 0 Percentage 35 10 12.5 22.5 15 5 0 0
Compaq/HP
Lenovo Dell Sony Acer HCL LG Others
Customers Preference Compaq/HP 15% 5% 0% 34% Lenovo Dell Sony Acer 23% 10% HCL LG 13% Others
Inference Among the respondents 35% prefer to go for Compaq/HP, second preferred laptop was Sony with 22.5 %, Acer in third position with 15% and Dell was at fourth position with 12.5 %.
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SPSS Findings
Sales of Sony laptop and Promotional offers
Q3 - - Sony laptop Sales Q12 Promotional offers
Case Processing Summary Cases Missing N Percent 0 .0%
N Howmany Sony laptops permonth * Do you get latest information about sony and offers
Valid Percent 40 100.0%
Total Percent 40 100.0%
Howmany Sony laptops permonth * Do you get latest information about sony and offers Crosstabulation Count Do you get latest information about sony and offers yes No 12 26 2 14 26
Total 38 2 40
Howmany Sony laptops permonth Total
1-10 10-20
Inference:
The retailers who receive information about promotional offers are 12 and their sales are less than 10 and there are 26 retailers who sell laptops than 10 and they do receive any information about promotional offers. Following the same there are more retailers who do not receive any information on the promotional offers and there sales is less.
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Sales & Distribution channel

Q3 - - Sales Q8 Distribution channel
N Howmany Sony laptops permonth * Rate your Satisfaction of Distribution channel
Howmany Sony laptops permonth * Rate your Satisfaction of Distribution channel Crosstabulation Count Rate your Satisfaction of Distribution channel Highly Highly Dissatified Dissatified Neutral Satisfied Satisfied 1 12 18 7 2 1 12 18 7 2
Total 38 2 40
Howmany Sony laptops permonth Total
1-10 10-20
Inference:
According to the tabular representation the respondents of highly dissatisfied is 1 and dissatisfied are 12 in numbers. 18 respondents say they are neutral and 7 are satisfied and 2 respondents are highly satisfied. The satisfaction level is less with the distribution channel.
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Planning to buy & Preferred Brand

Q3 - - Buy Q5 Brand
N Planning to buy a laptop * Which brand you are looking for
P lan n in g to b u y a laptop * W h ic h b r an d y o u ar e lo o k in g fo r C r o s s tab u latio n Count 0 P la n n in g to b u y 0 a la p to p yes T o ta l 80 80 14 14 4 4 5 5 9 9 6 6 2 2 W h ic h b r a n d y o u a re lo o k in g fo r C o m p a q /HP Le n o v o D e ll Sony Ace r HC L T o ta l 80 40 1 20
Among the respondents who wants to buy the laptop the most preferred is Compaq/HP with 14 and second preferred is Sony with 9 and next preferred is Acer with 6. Compaq/HP with the leading preferred among the buyers of the laptop.
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17. Findings for Retailers

Among the respondents highest preference was given to increase advertisement and promotions Among the respondents second preferred was increasing the margin to retailers and third was reducing the cost of the laptop Among the respondents 95% of them sell less than 5 Sony laptops per month
70 % of the respondents do not supply to the government organization, 30% of the respondent who supply to the government, in that 27.5 % are aware of the DGS & D, only 2.5 % of the respondents are not aware of the Scheme 15% of the retailers buy laptop from the national distributors, 40% buy laptops from regional stockiest partners, 5 % buy from other stockiest and 40 % buy from the combination of stockiest 65 % of the respondents do not get latest information or promotional offers about the laptop from Sony 52 % of the respondents are highly satisfied about product quality 30 % of the respondents are highly dissatisfied about the adv and promotion 50% of the respondents are not satisfied with pricing of the product 30 % of the respondents are not satisfied with distribution channel Sony Vaio laptop is not readily available with retailers, when customer asks for Sony the retailers say they will get it within an hour
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Retailers does not offer Sony laptops along with other laptops as many endusers were not aware
17. Findings for End-users

62% of the end-users say they did not buy Sony Vaio for the reason it is highly priced 27.5 % of the people are not aware Sony Vaio laptops 5 % said there was no availability of Sony Vaio laptops with retailers at the time of purchase 26 % of the users bought the non Sony Vaio laptops because of price factor 21% preferred quality as important factor for buying laptop 36% bought the laptop in the range of Rs 35000 to 45000 price tag 33% is the retailers influence on the end user while buying the laptop 28% said they bought the laptop because of the advertisement 36.25 % use laptop for office application and 26% use it for office as well as other applications Among the respondents 36.25 % of them are highly satisfied with the quality, 40% of them are satisfied with the price, only 20% of them said they are not satisfied with features available, 16.25% of them said they were highly dissatisfied either the price paid to the laptop
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17. Conclusions
Almost all the retailers in Hubli-Dharwad are aware of Sony Vaio but only few of them regularly get information regarding latest product launches, offers available on the products etc from the company. Hence the sales volume of Sony Vaio laptops is quite low even though for laptops Promotions & margin are the two most important parameters a vital role in enhancing the market share of Sony Vaio laptops The distribution channel for Sony Vaio laptops is quite effective, hence the product is easily available as and when required, retailers purchase it from various channels based on the requirement but channel comprising of regional distributors dominates them all. Retailers play vital role when customer is taking decision of buying a laptop, when customer is purchasing the laptop retailer plays a significant role Service support is satisfactory in Hubli-Dharwad region which can play there is a considerable market
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18. Recommendations
A Retailers Meet must be conducted in order to educate retailers about what Sony has, to offer to them and make them feel proud for being associated with Sony as channel partners. In Retailers Meet best channel partner for the quarter can be chosen depending on the business volume with Sony and he can be suitably rewarded by means of cash or kind Company representatives can maintain the database of the retailers along with e-mail ids. Latest offers and schemes on the products can be sent to retailers through e-mails to increase the awareness about Sony Vaio Laptops.
Sony should circulate these brochures of Sony laptops among retailers on a
regular basis. It can also provide posters to retailers to stick them at the most appropriate places in their shops such that these posters grab the attention of the customer. In order to increase awareness among end users Sony can go in for road shows, advertisement through newspaper, magazines and hoardings near offices, universities and industrial estates. (Ex: Any interesting article in local newspapers can be tagged at the bottom as Sponsored by Sony Vaio) Retailers must be persuaded to keep at least one Sony model at their end for display
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Sony should increase its advertising frequency in order to create awareness about its products in the minds of the end-users
19. Limitations of the study

The survey was restricted to 2 cities of North Karnataka ( Hubli-Dharwad) The period for the research was not enough to conduct the study in depth. The sample size was limited .i.e. 40 computer peripheral detailers and 120 end users and potential customers.
Analysis of the data generated from questionnaire is done on the assumption
that the respondents have divulged correct information, which may not be so with all respondents.
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20. Questionnaire for Retailers

Note : Tick () the most appropriate option. Name Name of Enterprise & Address Business : a) Retailer b) Wholesaler 1) Do you sell Laptops? a) Yes [ ] a) Sony c) Lenovo e) Others [] [] [] [] [] [] [] b) No [ ] b) HP/Compaq d) Acer [] [] 2) If yes which brands do you sell? : : [] []
3) How many Laptops do you sell per month? a) less than 10 b) above 10 less than 20 c) above 20 less than 30 d) more than 30
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4) How many Sony laptops do you sell per month? a) less than 5 [] b) above 5 less than 15 c) above 15 less than 25 d) more than 25 [] [] []
5) Do you supply laptops to Government Organizations? a. Yes [ ] b. No [] If Yes, are you aware of DGS & D Scheme available on Sony Laptop? a) Yes [ ] b) No [ ] 6) From where do you get the Sony Laptops? a) National distributor b) Regional Distributor c) Stockiest d) Other retailers promotional offers? a) Yes [ ] b) No [ ] [] [] [] []
7) Do you get information about latest Sony Laptops and
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8) Please rate your satisfaction level about the Sony Laptops (1 for lowest level of satisfaction and 5 for highest level of satisfaction) Parameters a. Product Quality b. Advertisement & Promotions c. Service Support d. Availability of product e. Pricing f. Distribution Channel g. Overall Satisfaction 1 2 3 4 5
9) Rank the following in order of their importance for their contribution in increasing the sales of Sony Laptops (1 for the highest and 3 for the least) a) Reduce the cost of Sony Laptops c) Provide good margins to retailers 10) Please input your valuable suggestions [ ] [ ] b) Increase Advertising and Promotions [ ]
Thank you, *******
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20. Questionnaire for End users

Note : Tick ( ) the most appropriate option. Personal Information Name Address Age Gender Occupation Income range(p.a) : : : : Male : : a) 1 2 Lakhs [ ] b) 2 3 Lakhs [ ] c) 3 4 Lakhs [ ] d) above 4 Lakhs [ ] Section A 1. Do you own a laptop? a) Yes [ ] b) No [ ] If NO, go to section B 2. If yes which brand laptop are you using now? a) Compaq/HP [ ] e) Acer [ ] ___________ 3. Why you did not purchase Sony laptop? (Other than Sony laptop users) a) Price [ ] b) Features [ ] c) Availability [ ] d) Awareness [ ] e) Others (Specify) _______________
4. What made you to choose the brand, you are using now?
[]
Female [ ]
b) Lenovo [ ] f) HCL [ ]
c) Dell [ ] g) LG [ ]
d) Sony [ ] h) others
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like.no.other a) Cost [ ] b) Quality [ ] c) Service [ ] g) Battery Backup [ ] d) Brand name [ ] h) Weight [ ]
e) Features [ ] f) Looks [ ] 5. What is the price of your laptop? a) 25000 to < 35000 [ ] c) > 45000 to < 55000 [ ]
b) > 35000 to < 45000 [ ] d ) > 55000 []
6. What was the major factor that influenced your buying decision? a) Advertisements [ ] d) Retailer [ ] b) Friends [ ] e) None [ ] c) Family [ ]
7. What tasks will you are performing with the notebook? a) Use it for MS Office applications B) Programming & Designing c) Watching movie & playing games d) All the above [] [] [] []
8. Rate your laptop based on the following parameters based on your level of satisfaction Parameters Quality Durability Battery Backup Features Brand Price looks Service Support HDS DS N S HS
Section B 1. Are you planning to buy a laptop? a) Yes b) No

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2. If YES, what is your purpose of buying a laptop? a) Use it for MS Office applications b) Programming & Designing c) Watching movie & playing games d) All the above 3. In what price band you are planning to buy a laptop? a) 25000 to < 35000 b) > 35000 to < 45000 c) > 45000 to < 55000 d) > 55000 4. What are the important parameters that you look in for, while buying a laptop? a) Cost [ ] e) Features [ ] b) Quality [ ] e) Looks [ ] c) Service [ ] d) Brand name [ ]
f) Battery Backup [ ] g) Weight [ ]
5. You are planning to buy which brand? a) Compaq/HP [ ] e) Acer [ ] b) Lenovo [ ] f) HCL [ ] c) Dell [ ] d) Sony [ ] g) Others _______________
6. If not Sony, please specify the reason ____________________________________________________________ Thank You
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21. Bibliography
Internet
www.itvr.com www.wikipedia.com www.financialexpress.com www.businessline.com www.thehindu.com www.channeltimes.com www.wikipedia.org www.sony.com www.sony.co.in
Various reference text books

Marketing- Lamb, Hair, Mc Daniel Principles of marketing- Kotler Sales Management, Richard Still Edward Cundiff Norman Govoni
Company Brochure
Pamphlets, Advertisements, Profile
Information from company personnel

Mr. S. Avinash (Sales manager- South, Bangalore)
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A PROJECT REPORT On To Access The Opportunities For Increasing The Sales of Sony Vaio Laptops

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A PROJECT REPORT On To Access The Opportunities For Increasing The Sales of Sony Vaio Laptops

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To access the opportunities for increasing the sales of Sony Vaio laptops in Hubli-Dharwad region

1.1 Laptop History

1.2 Introduction to How Laptops Work

1.4 Memory and Storage

Cold swappable - The computer must be off during the swap.

1.5 Display and Sound

1.6 Power Supplies

3. Business (Company) Overview

3.3 Sony in India

3.4 Company Outline

Sony India Pvt. Ltd. Mr. Masaru Tamagawa

3.5 Notable Sony products, technologies and proprietary formats

3.5.1 A Sony VCR

3.5.2 Sony MiniDisc

3.5.3 The PlayStation 2

3.6 Manufacturing base

3.7 Environmental Record

3.7.1 Works and Policies

Video Audio Integrated Operation

VAIO, an acronym for Video Audio Integrated Operation

3.11 Corporate Social Responsibility

3.11.1 Environmentally Conscious Products & Services by Sony

4.1.2 Philosophy and Policy

4.1.3 Reinforcing Sony's Quality Control System

4.1.4 Customer Feedback

4.1.5Utilizing Customer Feedback

4.1.6 Product Quality Information Channel

Breakdown of Product Quality Improvements

4.2 Environment Policy

6. Product Line & Length

CRT TV Home Theatre Projector

Business Projector Public Display Panel

Hi-Fi System Home Audio Accessories

Enterprise Storage Solutions

Storage & Recording

Play station 3 Play Station 2 PlayStation Portable

Digital Camera Digital Photo Printer

National Sales Head

Regional Sales Manager

Area Sales Manager

9. Various Branch Offices and Service centers

10. Employee base

10.1 Business Activities

11. Financial Performance

11.1 Business Overview

11.1.1 Digital Camera

11.2 Research and Development

11.3 Corporate Governance

11.5 Corporate Governance Structure

12. Theoretical Background for the project work

Channel membership Channel motivation Monitoring and managing channels

12.2 Sales Related Marketing Policies

Product line policy

13. Rationale behind choice of the project

14. Utility of the project

14.2 Benefits to me as a student

15. Introduction to the project work

15.2 Situation Analysis

Topic of the study

Objectives of the study

16. Methodology adopted

Distributors & Retailer

Tools and techniques of data collection and interpretation of data