Panasonic More than Doubles Digital Product Investment9 April 2005
Panasonic Corp. of North America, the main North American unit of Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. (MC), has completed a seven-month process to reshape all of its major U.S. sales and marketing operations.
The transformation is intended to capitalize on changing consumer demands and the company's strong position in flat-panel TVs and other digital products.
In a press release Monday, Panasonic said it will more than double its investment to promote digital products like plasma TV's, digital-still cameras and DVD recorders.
The company expects its worldwide Plasma TV production capability will reach 4.8 million units a year by 2006.
For the current quarter that began Friday, Panasonic said plasma and LCD flat-panel TVs for the first time are primed to exceed sales of direct-view CRT televisions in units and will account of 85% of direct-view TV sales in dollars.
Panasonic said it is pursuing efficiencies throughout its organization.
The company plans to improve the responsiveness of its Panasonic Customer Call Center in Chesapeake, Va. and will give temporary assignments at the call center to nearly 700 Panasonic middle and senior managers.
Since August of last year, Panasonic has streamlined management throughout its sales structures, consolidated business functions and simplified business processes.
Panasonic also has turned to external service providers for its logistics and warehousing and most recently contracted with International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) to execute services formerly handled by internal IT departments.
A Panasonic representative wasn't immediately available for further information.
Shares of Matsushita Electric Industrial recently changed hands Monday at $14.69, down 14 cents, or 0.9%, in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.
Source: Advanced Imaging Pro
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