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Sony Europe upbeat ahead of holiday season

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CIOL Bureau
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BERLIN, GERMANY: Sony Corp said it was optimistic about recovery in Europe even if economies there were still struggling to overcome the recession, its head of Europe said on Wednesday.

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"We still see some challenges ahead...but we are seeing some green shoots," Fujio Nishida said in Berlin ahead of Europe's biggest consumer electronics trade show IFA.

"We have enjoyed the best of three months in past few years," Nishida said and added that it "looks genuinely positive as we move to the Christmas season here in Europe".

Europe accounted for more than 25 percent of the company's sales last year.

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Nishida also said Sony's Online Services, called Qriocity, will include a cloud-based, digital music service by year's end.

It will expand its Qriocity streaming video service this fall in five European countries including France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the U.K.

The service has been available in the United States since April this year.

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The services will work across various internet-connected devices such as Walkman music players, Vaio computers, Bravia TVs, Blu-ray players and Sony Ericsson mobile phones.

The move is seen as step to challenge Apple's leading market position in the download market.

Sony has so far failed to gain ground on Apple in the download market despite its rich portfolio of film and music.

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