Taipei Times: Can you talk about Panasonic's sales target for the next fiscal year? Will Panasonic aim for 10-percent growth again like this year? What will the major drivers be?
Chen Shih-chang (
Digital products such as slim-screen TVs will have strong growth momentum as the penetration rate for these products in Taiwan is still low. In addition, products with added-value such as washing machines with built-in driers will also help to boost sales. These products usually enjoy higher selling prices.
We expect sales for home appliances in Taiwan to rise by a double-digit percentage as they have over the past few years. Panasonic posted sales of NT$12 billion for last year, excluding overseas exports.
TT: What about the mobile phone business next year? You said recently that Panasonic will pull out of the low-end of the market. Will this make it difficult for Panasonic to maintain its current 2 percent market share?
Chen: It is hard to say. In the absence of new models to introduce to the market next year, sales may slide. We are gradually shifting our phones from 2.5 generation to third-generation (3G) models. We feel it is difficult for us to compete with other brands in the low-end market, so we made the decision to move upwards.
Within the next 12 months, we will only sell the current 10 models with minor design changes before completing the design of our next 3G phones. We haven't come up with a timetable to launch our first batch of 3G handsets here yet.
I think 3G is becoming a mainstream product. Not only Panasonic, but other brands too will cut their spending on 2.5G models and focus on 3G products.
TT: Will Matsushita Electric Industrial's recent announcement that it plans to close two overseas mobile facilities in the Philippines and the Czech Republic affect the local unit in any way?
Chen: Taiwan is not included in the company's restructuring plan. No layoffs are planned for the Taiwanese unit.
The shutdown of overseas plants aims to trim costs and boost production efficiency. In addition, the company decided to integrate research and development resources by developing models appropriate to all markets in the future. Research teams now develop a wide range of different models for both the home and overseas markets.
The consolidation of R&D teams will benefit us. In the future, we will be able to launch the same models as for the Japanese market at the same time. That will please local followers of Japanese fashion.
TT: Some local TV brands such as Kolin Co (
Chen: A short supply of PDP panels is the main reason for Kolin and other local TV manufacturers withdrawing from the market. Few Taiwanese companies are capable of making PDP screens due to technological barriers. [Editor's note: In Taiwan, only Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd (
We have no such problems. We source our PDP panels from Matsushita Electric Industrial, which is the world's largest PDP panel maker. One out of three of the world's PDP-TVs uses Matsushita panels.
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