Sony is winning customers and seeing clear results from a strategy to focus on premium products in the U.S. and improve interaction with consumers, a top executive said Tuesday.

The company, which for years tried to battle lower-priced competitors, decided more than a year ago to concentrate on high-end products that showed off the best of Sony technology and allowed it to make money. And, so far, so good, said Mike Fasulo, president of Sony Electronics, at a briefing with reporters in San Francisco.

“In November, we recorded record profits and that’s not by accident, that’s by clear strategy,” he said.

Part of that strategy called for Sony to focus on a small number of product areas: home entertainment, audio, digital imaging and smartphones. Products outside of those core areas were discontinued and Sony reduced the complexity of its business, cutting the number of individual products it sells in the U.S. from around 2,000 to around 800. Next year, Fasulo plans to get that down to 500.

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