Sony’s Environment Analysis

Executive Summary Sony Corp. acquired Ericssons sh bes in their 50-50 joint casualty Sony Ericsson early this year and rebrand it into Sony expeditious, a wholly own subsidiary of Sony Corp. The repel of this audit is to synopsis veritable situation of Sony spry and suggests how Sony spry could struggle in such(prenominal)(prenominal) competitive mart place It started with analysis somewhat the agile b tell apart food trade. It then gave an over positioning about Sony alert and STP analysis. This audit utilize Porter 5 Forces to analyse the current situation of Sony spry.PEST and SWOT analysis were utilise to determine the external macro and micro environment and Sony Mobiles internal strength and weakness. It in on the whole case analysed Sony Mobiles of the essence(predicate) contests in the sedulousness and physical exercised the merchandise mix to analyse its trade system. Fin whollyy, the audit gave evaluation of the current situation and gave reco mmendations. Industry Background trade Size The homowide ready call industry consists of all parallel of latitude and digital handsets used for active telephony ( commercialiseline, 2009). Mobile ph superstar industry is a actually(prenominal) fast growing and competitive industry with numerous siz equal doers worry Nokia, Samsung, LG, HTC, RIM, Apple, and so onAccording to International telecommunication Union (2011), total quash of spry subscriber cosmeawide has reached 5,981 unrivalled thousand millions. The breakdown of subscription by regions extracted from ITU is as sweep up Source ITU Gartner, the worlds leading information technical schoolnology question and advisory society, in its report in 2012 reported that total cast of mobile ph matchless shipped in 2011 is 1,775 million units. jibe gross revenue of unfermented recollect in 2011 thrust reached 491. 4 millions, or so 27. 7% of total mobile ph nonpareil sales. (IDC, 2011) Market result In 2012, mobile ph adept industry operating profits rose wine more than 44% annually (Strategy Analytics, 2012).This is a very impressive maturement for whatever industry thanks to the creation and expansion of 3G and 4G net-works. That led to the fill for 3G and 4G mobile handset globally. Total number of mobile mobilises rose by 11. 1% (Gartner, 2012) and total number of orthogonalphone rose by 61. 3%. (IDC, 2012) Market Trend In 2007, the first i ring was introduced to the merchandise and it intensifyd the game. Apple relieve oneselfd a rising trend to the mobile phone industry, the trend of bracingphone. Since then to now, Apple has ex miscell each more than 200 million iPhones, nodes started to pick up smartphone instead of cavort phone and producer started to fol moo the trend.Samsung came up with its galaxy series, Nokia with its N series, etc. Currently, iPhone and Galaxy from Apple and Samsung ar the two best- trade smartphone models worldwide. The two model s atomic number 18 creation priced quite full(prenominal) but multi-million of them consider been sold. The two tech giant, Apple and Samsung continue to lead the mart and enjoy the lions division of global revenues and profits, thanks to the weak performance of different giant such as Nokia, Motorola and LG. Be number 1 chart showed the change in commercialiseplace sh ar of prime 5 smartphone vendors. Market Sh beNokias grocery store sh be is declining year by year but s bowl, it is keeping the largest pie of the cake. Taiwanese mobile producer HTC, Korean giants Samsung and LG are becoming stronger and stronger, query in Motion has always has its genuine share in the market and Apple with its Swiss army poke iPhone, is becoming a biggest flagellum to all competitors in the industry. The market share of the industry is as fol downcast In such market, competing in this industry would be difficult enough, but to be a market leader will be even more challenging. Sony Mobile, advant mount upor ofSony Ericsson which has the financial champion of Sony Corp. and the engine room and market share of Ericsson, has always strived to be the top player in mobile industry. Company Background Sony History Akio Morita & Masaru Iuka founded the capital of Japan Tsushin Kogyo in 1946. It was then re put forwardd into Sony Corp. in 1958 due to the belief that a keep companys name should be as short and easy to esteem as realizable. Its head billets is in Japan but its presence is all over the world and in almost any industry. Howard Stringer is cave inly establish as Sony Corp. chairman and chief operating officer.In 2001, Sony joint venture with Ericsson and introduce to the mobile phone industry a late player Sony Ericsson. The milestone marking the success of this joint venture is in 2003 when Sony Ericsson launched the camera phone. It was the combination surrounded by the historied Sony cyber shot digital camera and the Ericsson mobile phone technology. However, very presently after, in 2011, due to the signifi backt decline in sales over several years, Ericsson wanted to withdraw from the joint venture. Taking the chance, instead of block down Sony Ericsson, Sony bought Ericsson shares and it became a fully own subsidiary of Sony Corp.It is now traffic with over 2500 contractors worldwide. The current workforce of Sony is around 9400 employees under the leadership of Kunimasa Suzuki, the juvenilely-appointed CEO of Sony Mobile Communications. Sales and Finance As indicated in its 2011 fourth quarter financial statements, Sony Mobile, formerly known as Sony Ericsson report a mischief of 247 million euro. It is a decline of 374% from 2010. The lose was due to the rise in competitiveness of the market. It likewise reflect the unfavourable macroeconomic and the effects of the gormandize in Thailand in November 2011.The company father libe rationed from selling suffer phones to smartphones. Its humanoid-base d smartphone sales in the fourth quarter attachd 65% year-on-year. Sony Mobile create the total units sale during the 2011 fourth quarter is 9 million, it is a reduce of 20% from last year. The mitigate in sales is the result of the transfer from feature phones to smart phones. The number of feature phones was significantly dropped due to the change in strategy but the increase in smartphone sale is likewise little to offset the blemish in sales despite the particular that the sale in Xperia smartphones to date has reached 28 million.Sales for the quarter were approximately 1. 3 billion, 80% of which is from Xperia smartphones. This has empha sized the companys stir in strategy from selling feature phones to selling smartphones. The gross profit allowance was 24%. It is a decrease compare to 30% the identical quarter last year and 27% in the previous quarter. The decrease in gross profit margin show the difficulties of Sony in sales due to the increasing in market competi tiveness with the rise of many innovative, creative and strong competitors such as Nokia, Samsung, Apple.The price competition is affecting Sony gross profit margin and it to a fault one of the reason led to the loss of Sony Mobile during this quarter. Due to the difficulties and the shift in strategies and the restructuring program mentioned above, Sony Ericsson ended the quarter with a net loss of 207 million. Cash flow from operating activities during the quarter was negative Euro 26 million. outside borrowings were Euro 19 million during the quarter. Total borrowings were Euro 742 million at the end of the quarter. Total cash balances at December 31, 2011 were Euro 442 million. Business objectivesSony Mobile is aiming to challenge the market leaders in smartphone producers. They want to integrate Sony Corp. technology into their phones in stray to compete with others smartphone vendor like Apple or Samsung. They want to construct market share any try to sire number one marke t leader. Sony will change as quoted by the current chairwoman and the CEO of Sony Corp. , Sony is reinventing itself to deliver a untested, odd and exciting experience for its customers around the world. Sony is now moving fully towards giving an all-in-one firmness through its new array of smartphones powered by android operating system.SONY STP ALALYSIS (Segmentation Targeting and Positioning) In marketing most important things are the marketing separateation and the marketing mix. Even if you come up with a best proceeds and if you do not use the right marketing strategies the result can be devastating. Sony is one of the electronic companies in the world but it cannot be attributed merely to the technology and the debut. Sonys marketing segmentation consists of four different lines 1) Mobile phones 2) Sony melody 3) Sony pictures (Play Station) ) Electronics (TV, camera, walkman, computer, MP3 players) Source http//www. consumerpsychologist. com/cb_Segmentation. html Segmentation Sony takes an effort to understand its customers as much(prenominal) as possible. The marketing segmentation keep backs the process more efficient and effective. It divides the market into small pieces and orchest rank people who belong to the same convocation and feel the same desire for a harvest-feast. Sony mobile aims to tooshie the mid(prenominal)-end to heights-end market and they offer mellow quality harvesting ir applaudive of the approach.Sony mobile works on the radiation pattern of handset to give birth it more stylish. Segmentation can be make in four categories * Demographic * Geographic * Psychographic * behavioral Demographic Marketers typically consider for a broader vision of socioeconomic characteristic as demographic variables. Demographic characteristic that marketers commonly use to segment markets include age, sex, race, education, production line and social class. Sony mobiles have different variety of handsets. For example, Sony la unched mobiles of different dress i. e. Sony Xperia P, Sony Xperia S, Sony Xperia U.These new contemporaries mobiles are targeted for young and middle older people. As these smartphone mobiles have current features like Reality Display powered by the Mobile BRAVIA Engine HD, Clear Audio and xLOUD Sony audio technologies, a future(a) extension PlayStation for gaming, HD camera, and social networking. It is targeted for personal line of credit people as it is said Your office is where you are, this shows that it has excellent business capabilities. Geographic Market is divided into different regions as one or more geographic regions cause customers to differ from one region to other.Sony has different marketing strategies for different regions, as in almost regions of India more people are attracted for loud and clear music fleck some regions are more in social networking. For such regions Sony launched mobiles like Sony Xperia sola, Xperia P. Largest market segment is China with 1,023 million mobile subscribers. India is second with 919 million and USA top the three with 331 million subscribers. Psychographic Psychographic factors are in any case been used to segment markets, as it is divided into lifestyle, motives, etc.Lifestyle analysis provides a broad view of buyers, as it is categorised like hobbies, sports, entertainment, social events, ratping and many more. For business driven customer, Sony came up with smartphone Xperia S as a tool for their business. as healthy as for entertainment and social networking consumers, Sonys smartphones include features to enable the same. Behavioural Behavioural is classified in some categories like Brand Loyalty, Price Sensitivity, and social welfare expectation. Some of the consumers look out for brand loyalty as, Sony designed the new Smartphone which target for such customers.As price is another factor, for which the consumers check, Sony came out with price of score S$650-S$750 for Xperia S, Xperia P which has latest features. Targeting Sony mobile is shortly act to target mid-end to high-pitcheder(prenominal)-end market by rolling out overturn priced handsets. Sony mobiles use the newest and superior technology to appeal to their customers. The people who are most interested in digesting up to date with the newest technology are usually men of the ages 18-30. Sony mobiles are more targeting for entertainment with communication.They are targeting for young and middle aged group, who are more interested in new features and latest technology. Young aged group consumers i. e. 18-25, are more attracted towards Smartphones having features like entertainment, social networking, and camera. For which Sony is targeting these age groups with Xperias new versions. Sony mobile communication is as well as targeting for business group consumers by using excellent business features. Positioning Sony Mobile is shortly centeringing only on the higher end of mobile phone, the smart pho ne segment. They position their product as high class mobile phones.With their continuous innovation in technology, they are trying to lower the terms and produce entry-level smart phone models (telecomlead, 2012) but the image of a higher class mobile phone is still their main focus. Sony Mobile has an reinforcement that they inherited the image and brand name of Sony Corp. When people deem of Sony, they think of high class, innovative, high-tech and best quality product. Sony Mobile is trying to re-as incontestable customer that image through their products. PORTERs 5 PORTERs 5 forces analysis tendings to study the markets structure which would pick out the companys attractiveness and long-run profitability. . Threat of new entrants Considering the get of capital required to setup a mobile phone manufacturing company, the threat of new entrants are relatively low. Though few companies crop up once in a epoch, it is not feasible to challenge big players such as Sony. 2. Bar clearing power of suppliers Sony currently has got very moderate number suppliers when it comes to their chips. Since android supports only particular number of chips, Sony necessarily to make sure that they maintain a good working relation with such companies. Qualcomm, NVidia and ARM are such company who provides required chipsets to Sony.But in price of other parts for their mobile, they are flexible and for few parts such as camera, they have got their own manufacturing units. 3. Bargaining power of Buyers Like in major(ip)(ip)ity of the companies, bargaining power of the buyers are the prime criteria to which the companies aim to cater. tout ensemble the major companies are trying to endlessly to the catch up with the customers demand through offering unique features. Each customer perceive value in a different way, thus it is very important to keep up with the customers expectation. 4. Threat of alternating(a) Products/ServicesDue to high competition in the market curre ntly, there are high numbers of choices a customer can make speckle selecting their mobile. also there is no switching cost involved except for the cost of the mobile phone. Unless 5. Intensity of Rivalry among Competitors Competition is extremely fierce between the existing mobile phone manufacturers. Competitors such as Samsung, Nokia, HTC and LG are infinitely coming out with new features in a regular interval. The competitors make sure their products stand out through actively promoting them even forwards the launch. PEST AnalysisThis is a framework where the management/strategy consultants use to get an overview of the external Macro-environment in which the organization operates. PEST factors play an important role in the value creation opportunities of a strategy. These factors are usually being considered as either threats or opportunities. Political Factors Political factors for Sony can be changed at any time. The Government holds the power to change any policies and r egulations which may affect Sony at the time. Also the recession may become reduced, therefore resulting in better trades for Sony. Government decisions an affect the organization up to high extent. Even this would affect Sonys competitors. The laws which can affect Sony participation would consist of new international policies. Internationally the Government may change or increase trading restrictions which would definitely change the way Sony works, because it needs to trade. Government also has the power to change minimum wage, tax, VAT etc. These are also the factors which lead Sony to rank low compared to other competitors. Sony Mobiles are present in many countries worldwide the political pressure in each of them would affect them one way or the other.Economical Factors The economic harvesting has shrunk which means that the harvest-time of the economy is negative. Economically, due to this many changes occur such as the interest and exchanges rates. Due to the recession be ing deducted in the scrawny future exchange rates may also decrease, however steadily. Sony must(prenominal)iness be aware of any trading restrictions the Government has made. Since Sony is an international company the exchange rates is different to whichever country they trade with. If the exchange rates in different countries have changed, Sony works out what prices are their products being sold at and whether it would be worth it.Sony Mobile formulates new strategies with discover to segmentation and to check on with the new price of products being launched in different markets due to the changes in these exchange rates. Also low growth in the National income of most of the countries has been resulted in low demand of the self-coloreds products. Because of these increasing costs and problems Sony Mobile company had to reduce the size of its organisation as it was in the year 2010, the global economic mode has a negative effect on Sony mobiles and as a plow result of this i t was necessary to rebuilt and reduce the size of the organisation around the world.Social Factors Socially, Sony flowerpot would be predicted to do well. The company has already gained a lot of write up because of the quality products and armed services they provide. Technology has been alterd by a deal majority. Sony may even have new competitors which may impact on them. Sony must ensure that they stick onward of technology. They must be able to create revolutionary equipment for people because that what their company would rely on to stay alive. Companies such as Microsoft and Apple would also do the same. People have trends which Sony must learn so that they may create products which can refer towards them.For example, many young adults tend to listen to music therefore Sony would create products which may allow people to listen to music anywhere at any time. People will have different tastes of style, trends, activities etc. Sony must also improve their work of ideas s o that they can still divert their customers and that they have adapted with the ageing of the company. Technological Factors Having new technology Sony creates and innovates products for e. g. Sonys 12MP camera in Xperia S and their Bravia engine based HD display. This is all possible due to the technological advances.With the latest technology it is possible for Sony mobiles to reduce costs, improve quality, and lead to innovation and new developments. These products benefit the company as well as its customers. Sony mobile works around the latest technology. In order to lead with their competitors they have to stay updated every time and regularly research and develop. It depends on technology so that it may provide efficient productivity of work internationally. Sony uses upgraded and new technology to increase its productivity level and to stay ahead of its competitors.Sony uses new technology to conduct its research and development which would help the business create new pr oducts using customer information and also by conducting market research. SWOT Favourable Sonys presence around world is given the fact that it is one of those strongest established Japanese brand. It is present in almost all the countries around the world. Sony, established in 1946 one of those world renowned companies known for their innovation and quality of products till date. They have a very strong brand name and have a magnitude of products under their brand.They are the leaders when it comes to their display unit in the mobiles as well as the camera. Apples Iphone 4S and Samsungs Galaxy SIII buy their camera unit from Sony. Unfavourable Unfortunately with the lack of innovation and not keeping up with the competition, Sony is no more a leader or even in the top 5 of the mobile phone manufacturers in the world. With more people moving towards the smart phone segment, Sony has lost out to its competitors such as Samsung, Apple, HTC, etc. Sonys adaptation to the latest mobile t echnology is also at its slowest.While its competitors are moving towards the future(a) extension technology Sony is very slow with even announcing its next extension product roadmaps. Sony currently is lacking in innovation unlike till few years back. Despite having a previous generation technology their product pricing is a tad bit higher than its competitors. Opportunities Sony has got an opportunity to tap into the lower segment market with their high quality product offering. Currently all the mobile manufacturers are very focused in their higher end and higher mid value segment market.Sony who is already a marketing leader in portable gaming service can integrate such technology into their mobiles and offer a unique product which will set the apart from their competitors. While all of their products currently using Googles humanoid OS, they should provide faster software updates to their products. These years the operating system used also one of the decisive factors whil e buying a mobile. Threat Currently Samsung, Nokia and HTC are aggressively evacuant their new generation smartphones and promoting the same.While other manufacturers such as LG, Motorola and Research in motion are coming out with newer product of next generation smart phone in order to stay competitive. Sonys market share is decreasing slowly and their advertisement campaign hardly has any reach to its target segment. Competitor Analysis For the completive analysis, well look at the major mobile phone manufacturers in the market. Well look at their strength and weaknesses, strategy and objectives. Samsung Korean Giant Samsung is one of the leading mobile manufacturers in the world.Currently Samsung is the worlds largest smart phone maker with the sales of 45 million smartphones in the first quarter of 2012. Samsungs strong hold is with its mid segment to the high end segment products, comprising majorly of the smartphone sporting the Googles Android OS. Samsung is aggressively comp eting with Apple in the top end segment of the smart phone. Samsungs Galaxy S line is their flagship models and are one of the highest selling products in the smartphone industry. For the first quarter of 2012, Samsung holds a market share of 23. 5% and 29. 1% of global mobile phone market and global smart phone market respectively.Nokia Nokia is one of the study competitors of Sony from the early days. Despite its declining market share, Nokia is still the largest mobile phone maker in the world. With its strong low segment models and the recent tie up with Microsoft for their Windows Mobile OS. Nokia is aggressively trying to get some of shares in the smartphone market. They have already strategically put their products in the mid segment and high end segment market, ranging from Lumia 610 to the Lumia 900. HTC HTC is next big competitor to Sony. HTC trademark comes from their very quick releases of the new generation products.HTC was the first to come out the initial batch of t ouch cover version smartphones and also the first to come out with the mobile under Android platform. HTCs current flagship product lines are their One Series and are aggressively promoting it all over the world. Their strategy is to release their product ahead of the competitors and gain a good heart and soul of market share. HTC is project itself as a very good multimedia mobile and have acquired beat Electronic. HTC also acquired majority of the stake in VIA Technology, one of the major chipset makers on July 6, 2011. MotorolaThe Patent powerhouse Motorola is also on decline with respect to its market share. Motorola lacks the consistency when it comes to their market share. The threat to Sony comes from the fact that Google has acquired Motorola Mobility and that in the turn up future itll revamped to compete with the bigger players including Apple. Currently Motorola is doing a fair amount of sales with its Droid RAZR product and has got couple of more release lined up for the next generation mobiles. Apple Competitor Analysis would not be intimate without analysing Apple. Apples dominance in the market with its IPhone is unbeaten.With their aggressive marketing and innovative design, they are in the lead along with Samsung. Apple currently sports a big fan following for their products and holds a very high market share in the smartphone and tablet segment. Despite having only very less number of products in their portfolio, Apple manages post a enormous profit when compared to others. In the first quarter of 2012, Apple holds a market share of 24. 2% in the smart phone segment, an 88. 7% increase from the first quarter of 2011. This scenario is bound to continue for the upcoming years. Other PlayersResearch In Motion (RIM), LG, ZTE are other big competitors to Sony. ZTE and LG are holding a market share of 4. 8% and 3. 4% respectively in the global mobile phone market. Whereas, Research in Motions market share in the smart phone is down to 6. 7% an d are planning on targeting the mass market instead of limit themselves to the business class users. Thus from the above analysis, it is evident that Sony is facing with a high amount competition and is in a very operose spot. Marketing Mix Marketing Mix is a different attractive of choices organizations makes in the process of introducing a product or service to the market.The 4Ps is one of the methods used to analyse the market mix. 5. 1 Product In the fiscal year 2011, Sony began to shift the focus of its mobile phone business exclusively to smartphones. So currently Sony Mobile Corporation has got a very low number of products under its wing. It has got only two product lines namely BRAVIA and XPERIA range of mobile phones. The BRAVIA branded line of phones are exclusive to their Japanese market and there are about five models under it. For rest of the world the XPERIA ranges of mobile phones are being sold.First introduced back in 2008, Sony after revamping their product lin e retained only this series which sports the Googles Android OS. Sony currently has got about six models under the XPERIA series. Sonys flagship model Xperia S comes with one of the best camera in the market with its 12 Mega Pixel Sensor. With their Xperia product line up, Sony is trying to offer an all-round functionality offering. It is also coming up with 7 new models which will target the various segment users. Sony also has got two Tablet models namely Sony Tablet P and Sony Tablet S. Currently all of Sonys models are featuring android and are touchscreen.Sony also has got range of Accessories to support the functionality of their mobile phones such as headset, wrist rebuke and customized chargers. 5. 2 Price Pricing is one of the key areas to be in(predicate) in the market and is one of the frequently investigated marketing strategies as think with quality. The perception of Sonys superior quality is still preserved with their current models and it comes at a higher cost of production. This makes their models costing higher than its competitor with the similar product. Currently Sonys cheapest model comes at the cost of about SG$400 and their flagship model XPERIA S costing about SG$700. . 3 shopping center Sony currently retails its mobile phone through four primary take traditional multi-brand shops, retail chains, local stores and also through their exclusive branded stores. Sony also sells their product online through their own web store and also through online e-commerce websites such as newegg (US), amazon (US), flipkart (India) and other country specific e-commerce portals. Sony also sells its product with tie up the national operators of the respective country. Sony mobile takes the inherent advantages of the Sony brand and strengthens the marketing field and humanityity.Build an outstanding Sony branded shop in shop and point of sale and re-establish the brand image of Sony mobile market and marketing in a wide range. And realize the des egregation of other businesses with the Sony Group. It means selling the smart phones in Sony home appliances and other Sony line of business sales channels online shop. In order to win the effective integration Sony mobile channels the resources to the Sony Group. 5. 4 Promotion Sony Mobile currently trying to establish its Sony brand name after the name change from Sony Ericsson.Currently Sony is trying hard to be a follower and it is currently promoting its Xperia smartphone through various communications medium such as boob tube advertisement, press, Internet and social websites, and road shows. Sony is also actively sponsoring various public events and also through. They are also aggressively promoting their models through the network operators by providing the mobiles at a subsidized rate upon contract. Evaluation & recommendation From the marketing audit, it is quite evident that Sony is currently facing lots of challenges, while trying to establish its revamped image with their smartphones.They have put in strategies to gain more market shares and introducing new smartphones to keep up with the recent market development. With its strong root word, Sony can improve their positioning in the market with strategically placed steps. Sony need to focus on delivering products that would cater to wide segment of customers. They should make sure that they come out with latest technology products on par with its competitors. Sony should bring back their innovative culture they once had and focus on becoming the market leader.They should leverage on their strong foundation with the multitude technological products under them. Sony currently does not have any low cost solution this is a very big shift from their previous strategy wherein they had products targeting all range of customers. It is recommended they try to focus on providing low cost solution and fill in the void. Currently all the major companies are focusing their resource to compete in the m id-range to high end mobile products, leaving enough opportunity in the lower end segment of the mobile market.With the right price to feature ratio in this segment, Sony can gain a very good market share that will enable to them to recapture their past position in the near future, especially in the developing countries like India where such low price solution will attract a huge number of customers. Though Sony has got an extensive distribution network, they can provide a direct to customer model through their website which can enable them to engage the customers presently without a need of the resellers they are already doing such model through their direct stores.With more users opting to purchase their products through the e-commerce websites, such a solution will add some good value to the company. Sony should make sure their products are marketed properly such a way they highlight the target feature for the respective target group. Thus with right products and marketing strat egy, Sony Mobile Corporation can make sure that they reach their objectivity of gaining more market share. LIST OF REFERENCE Fourth quarter mobile phone industry overview asymco. 2012. Fourth quarter mobile phone industry overview asymco. ONLINE open at http//www. asymco. om/2011/01/31/fourth-quarter-mobile-phone-industry-overview/. Global mobile statistics 2012 give out A Mobile subscribers handset market share mobile operators mobiThinking. 2012. Global mobile statistics 2012 Part A Mobile subscribers handset market share mobile operators mobiThinking. ONLINE accessible at http//mobithinking. com/mobile-marketing-tools/latest-mobile-stats/asubscribers. Gartner Says gentlemans gentlemanwide Smartphone Sales Soared in Fourth take in of 2011 With 47 Percent Growth. 2012. 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