Sony AM-X is a mirrorless camera that is changing the competitive landscape in the professional camera industry.
Question:
Sony AM-X is a mirrorless camera that is changing the competitive landscape in the professional camera industry. Originally released in March 2019, the features of the camera include a 3:2 aspect ratio, and 28.3 megapixels. As a mirrorless camera, the AM-X is lighter and smaller than DSLR cameras; in fact, the AM-X weighs only 400g, when competitive DSLR cameras weighs 800g. It is available directly to consumers through the Sony website and Sony stores at a price of $6000, which is nearly 10 times the price of regular consumer cameras.
What’s unique about Sony AM-X is its “SmartLight” system. The SmartLight system is a new exposure system that allows AM-X users to take pictures with minimum lighting when compared to existing exposure system (“BrightLight”) used by Sony and its competitors. In fact, photos taken with the Sony AM-X appears two times brighter in the evening when compared to photos taken with cameras that use BrightLight due to the SmartLight. Sony’s decision to pursue advances in a smarter exposure system in cameras came as a result of calls from customer for better lighting in pictures taken at night. In fact, the only difference between Sony AM-X and Sony AM, its predecessor, is the presence of SmartLight.
Sony AM-X has only two competitors in the professional mirrorless camera category; Nikon X1 and Canon EOS-M. Descriptions of the products are provided in Table 1: Product Descriptions.
Table 1: Product Descriptions
Attributes | Sony AM | Nikon X1 | Canon EOS-M |
Release Date | March 2018 | November 2018 | January 2019 |
Aspect Ratio | 3:2 aspect ratio | 3:2 aspect ratio | 3:2 aspect ratio |
Pixel Count | 28.3 megapixels | 29.0 megapixels | 28.7 megapixels |
Weight | 400g | 452g | 420g |
Exposure System | BrightLight | BrightLight | BrightLight |
Price | $5500 | $5800 | $5400 |
Additionally, the quarterly unit sales of each product is provided in Table 2: Unit Sales.
Table 2: Unit Sales
Quarter | Sony AM-X | Sony AM | Nikon X1 | Canon EOS-M |
2018-Q1 | 0 | 100 | 0 | 0 |
2018-Q2 | 0 | 1000 | 0 | 0 |
2018-Q3 | 0 | 1200 | 0 | 0 |
2018-Q4 | 0 | 1100 | 300 | 0 |
2019-Q1 | 50 | 700 | 600 | 200 |
2019-Q2 | 50 | 0 | 925 | 625 |
2019-Q3 | 700 | 0 | 600 | 300 |
Adam Hobbes, VP of marketing at Sony, has been asked to come up with strategies to increase the sales of Sony AM-X. His suggestion? Expanding the distribution of Sony AM-X to retail stores such as BestBuy and Target. He believes that expanding the number of channels available to Sony will increase the sales of Sony AM-X as it increases the reach of the products to the consumers and makes it more convenient for them to purchase.
Please answer the following questions based on the above information:
Q1 What type of consumer good is Sony AM-X? Provide two justifications by using information from the above text.
Global Marketing management
ISBN: 978-0470505748
5th edition
Authors: Masaaki Kotabe, Kristiaan Helsen