Sony Corp. officials said they expect that China will in the next few years surpass Japan and become the technology company’s second-largest market, after the U.S.
“China is the fastest growing geographic region in which we operate,” said Mr. Stringer. “We invest heavily here.”
Sony’s chief executive, Sir Howard Stringer, and Shizuo Takashino, acting chairman of Sony China Ltd., said they hope for the company’s China operations to eventually have a Chinese management team to oversee its seven factories and all of its business in the country.
At a ceremony to unveil Sony Corp.’s new ExploraScience museum in Beijing, the executives didn’t address questions about the recent recall of millions of defective laptop batteries. Mr. Stringer deferred the question to a company spokesman.
Sony, still reeling from a reported 51-billion-yen ($433.7 million) loss, has also been dealing with significant losses in its videogame division after manufacturing delays forced the company to halve shipments of its new PlayStation 3 gaming console to the U.S. and Japan. Sony also cut the price of the console and is delaying its European release until next spring.
But Mr. Stringer was optimistic about the company’s future in gaming, saying he expects Sony will recuperate over the next year through the introduction of new videogames.
In addition to opening its new Chaoyang Park science museum, which features exhibits of Sony’s latest technology, the company also plans to unify its brand by bringing together its film, electronics and entertainment businesses, which, at the moment, appear fragmented to Chinese consumers, Mr. Stringer said.
Going forward, he expects to continue making products tailored specifically to Chinese consumers, the first of which was the Walkman P series — a music player that displays Chinese lyrics and photos on its screen and comes with a voice recorder. The device was released in April.
In coming months, Sony will also launch its slimmest liquid-crystal-display television, at 16 millimeters thick, exclusively in China. Surveys have found that the vast majority of Chinese consumers prefer to hang their televisions on a wall.
