Have you ever heard the term LOJA?
It means Liaison Office (in) Japan. It is how you one would interact with a multi-billion dollar company from other parts of the world and God knows, Sony is a truly global brand sold in every corner of the world.
For most people in the audiophile, home theater or custom installer business in the United States generally know how to deal with Sony in San Diego. They have sales, marketing, training and so much more in a gleaming facility not too far from the border of Mexico off of the 15 Freeway. For decades, Sony Electronics were based in North New Jersey. The logistic of dealing with Japan in terms of flights, shipping product and even simple time zones just didn’t make sense anymore so they moved.
For people working all over the world in the consumer electronics business, there are far bigger challenges to working with Sony thus why Sony needs a LOJA. Language barrier issues are a problem. Shipping products to extreme locations around the world are also a challenge. Interfacing with public relations people both internally and externally isn’t easy. Purchasing can be a problem in that there are exchange rate topics, international wire transfers and more to deal with. Finance is yet another topic to think about. While it might be easy to pay your Sony bill if you are Best Buy or some other audiophile retailer but these topics aren’t nearly as easy if you deal with Sony products in rural parts of Africa, India, Eastern Europe, South America and so many other locations around the world.
Sony is known for having some great products in every meaningful consumer electronics category. Their $200 entry-level integrated amp for music lovers known as the Sony STR-DH190 is a game changer at its price. An audiophile grade digital product like a $99 SACD-capable Blu-ray player, such as the Sony BDP-S6700 might only be able to be made by a company with the resources like Sony. Sony’s headphones are famous for having the best noise cancelation in the business. The Sony WH-1000XM5 Bluetooth headphones are a reviewer favorite and perhaps one of the best players in the high end wireless headphone space.
And this is only a start to all of the things that Sony does well.
Logistics can be added to that list as well.