Sony Mobile is aiming to increase its retail presence in India to 8,000 in fiscal 2013 from 3,000 in previous financial year. HTC last week said it will double its retail presence to 7,000.

Sony India MD Kenichiro Hibi said the company would target revenue of Rs 3,500 crore from smartphone business in India. The retail expansion, as part of its strategies, and introduction of innovative smartphones and other devices would assist the electronics major.

On Tuesday, Samsung India mobile head Vineet Taneja, announcing the launch of Samsung Note 3 and Galaxy Gear, said the forthcoming festival season will improve the sale of devices in the country.

The smartphone major will also increase Xperia stores to 200 percent from last year’s 30.

The company earlier announced that it would spend Rs 300 crore toward marketing and promotion.

Sony Mobile’s rival HTC is planning to nearly double its retail presence to 7,000 outlets and service infrastructure to 400 centers in India. ( HTC India to double retail presence to 7,000 )

The expansion is aimed at assisting HTC to compete with foreign devices makers such as Nokia (Microsoft), Apple, Samsung, Sony Mobile and domestic phone makers like Micromax, Lava, Karbonn, etc. in the rapidly growing smartphone market in India.

Sony India MD, announcing Xperia Z1 smarpthone in India at a price of Rs 44,990, said innovation will be key for its success in the domestic market.

According to Strategy Analytics, Samsung, Micromax and Apple are leading the Indian smartphone market in the first quarter of 2013.

The smartphone company has launched a scheme whereby customers can buy the Xperia Z1 with zero down-payment and 12 month EMI.

Xperia Z1 competes with Samsung Galaxy Note 3 which is priced at around Rs 50,000.

Xperia Z1 comes with a 20.7-megapixel resolution camera capable of taking add-on lenses. Its main focus is camera capabilities, Hibi said at a press meet on Wednesday.

The 5-inch Xperia Z1 can be paired with the upcoming Cyber-shot QX10 and QX100 lens cameras.

The smartphone features a 2.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon processor.

However, it is yet to offer the latest Android OS. It currently runs on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean operating system.

The device has 2GB of RAM and up to 16GB of internal storage, which can be expanded to 64GB.

Meanwhile Sony SmartWatch 2 is priced at Rs 14,990.

Sony SmartWatch competes with Samsung Galaxy Gear. Samsung smartwatch is compatible with select Galaxy models and do not work with its rival phones.

Sony SmartWatch is compatible with all Android 4.0 and above phones, the company said.

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