By Honey Claudine C. de los Santos
JAPAN’S leading appliance manufacturer Panasonic on Thursday launched newly designed “aspirational products” specifically targeting Filipino consumers that the company’s executives hope will double its sales in the Philippines and the Asia-Pacific region by 2018.
Hiroyuki Tagashi, the newly appointed president of Panasonic Philippines, said they are expanding the appliance business in the country by focusing on the Asia-Pacific region with a ¥2.3-trillion investment. He is expecting sales in the Asia-Pacific region to increase by 150 percent from 2014 to 2018.
Panasonic products are manufactured and marketed allover Asia, including Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia, where the company opened a manufacturing and marketing hub for the region last year.
The company launched new models and designs for its washing machine, refrigerator and air-conditioner products. These include the washing machine ActiveFoam System series that has an extra-large capacity load, the Premium Bottom Freezer Refrigerator and the Elite Inverter airconditioning Sky series, the Skywing.
“The new Sky series is truly one of Panasonic’s bold and remarkable revolutionary innovations that would set a new benchmark in the next generation of air conditioners,” said Masaru Toyota, vice president of Panasonic Philippines. The Skywing air conditioner creates an evenly cool temperature inside the room while purifying it at the same time.
Panasonic Philippines is planning to expand and strengthen their business in the country by promoting value-added products and simultaneously investing future assembly and manufacturing business in the Philippines.
Panasonic is the top refrigerator brand in the country, with a 27-percent market share; while its washing machines and air conditioners are both in the top 2 position, with a 20-percent market share in the washing machine category and 22 percent for air conditioners.