Panasonic bets big on India, emerging mkts

TOKYO: India will get a very big share of the 40 billion-yen (about Rs 1,374 crore), the Japanese consumer durables giant Panasonic plans to invest in five countries in emerging markets, its managing executive officer Hitoshi Otsuki said on Tuesday.

While declining to divulge the exact details of investments in India, Mr Otsuki, who is in charge of overseas operations, said the investment would be spread over the period till March 2009. “We have medium-term plans for the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries and Vietnam. We have high hopes from these countries,” he told reporters after the unveiling of some of Panasonic’s new products such as DVD and Blue-ray disc recorders at CEATEC, Japan.

Panasonic, the brand by which the $80-billion Matushita Electric Industrial is best known, intends to focus on plasma television, refrigerators, washing machine and DVDs and other consumer products, as part of its growth plans.
The company, as per recent reports, intends to source television sets from India to overseas markets. In recent years, the Panasonic brand has had a tough time fighting competition from Korean consumer durable companies such as Samsung and LG and Indian companies too.

Facing a decline in sales, the company last year announced the closure of its air-conditioner manufacturing division in India. Currently, it has three manufacturing facilities in India, at Chennai, Noida and Pune.