Panasonic UK Ltd - Consumer Electronics -
United Kingdom
Panasonic UK Ltd
Strategic Direction
·
Panasonic is a brand name for
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co Ltd of Japan, one of the world's largest
manufacturers of consumer electronics products.
·
Under the Panasonic brand and
its slogan, "Panasonic ideas for life", Matsushita provides a wide
range of products, from audiovisual and information/communication equipment to
home appliances and components.
·
Panasonic is aggressively
launching and promoting several competitive products, such as plasma screen
TVs, and it is investing selectively in growth sectors with the aim of
enhancing its strategic businesses.
·
The rising prices of crude oil
and other raw materials, the exchange rate risk associated with growing
concerns over trade and budget deficits in the US, in general, and the increase
of price competition in high-growth markets as consumers' preferences rapidly
shifted from analogue to digital products, in particular, may affect the
company's performance within the consumer electronics sector.
Key Facts
|
Full name
of company:
|
Panasonic
UK Ltd
|
|
Address:
|
Panasonic
House, Willoughby Road, Bracknell, Berkshire RG12 8FP
|
|
Tel:
|
+44 (0)
1334 486244
|
|
www:
|
www.panasonic.co.uk
|
|
Activities:
|
Distributor
of TV and radio, sound and video products, electronic components, electric
household appliances and other electrical equipment.
|
Source: Euromonitor International from
company reports, Trade press
|
|
2004
|
2005
|
|
Net sales (million)
|
775.6
|
659.1
|
|
Net profit
(million)
|
13.8
|
2.6
|
|
Number of
employees
|
432
|
435
|
Source: Trade press, Company research
Company Background
·
Panasonic UK is an affiliate of
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co Ltd, which was founded in 1918 in Osaka,
Japan, by Konosuke Matsushita. The Panasonic brand name was created in 1955 and
was first used as a brand for audio speakers since "PAN" means
"all" and "SONIC" means "sound".
·
Panasonic UK was established in
1972 and has grown significantly since then, becoming a leading manufacturer of
consumer electronics products.
·
Panasonic's headquarters are
located in Bracknell, Berkshire, and the business is also supported by a
logistics centre in Northampton.
·
Matsushita Electric Industrial
Co Ltd., Panasonic's parent company, has also established other manufacturing
plants in the UK (such as Panasonic Industrial and Panasonic Broadcast), where
it employs a total of 4,000 people.
Production
·
Panasonic UK is a leading
supplier of the consumer electronics market, which focuses on the production of
in-car speakers for European automobile manufacturers.
·
There are also separate
companies within the UK responsible for the sale of industrial products such as
components and computer peripherals (Panasonic Industrial) and professional
video and broadcast products (Panasonic Broadcast).
·
The company's UK operation
forms part of a significant European presence, in manufacturing, sales and
R&D, which employs some 15,000 people in total.
·
Nowadays, around 60% of the
goods sold by Panasonic are supplied by its factories in the UK and Czech
Republic, while the remainder are imported from Japan and the Far East.
Competitive Positioning
·
Panasonic is the global brand
name for all consumer and other electronic products, including audio, visual,
information and communication devices.
·
Panasonic is aggressively
launching, promoting and selectively investing in strategic segments, such as
plasma screen TVs and digital cameras. In July 2001, Panasonic and Toyota
announced a formal agreement under which Panasonic serves as the title sponsor
of the Toyota Formula One (F1) racing team.
·
The severe business
environment, which is characterised by significant declines in prices and
intensified competition, led Panasonic to discontinue the production of its
electronic devices division, and to begin liquidation procedures in December
2006.
·
The manufacture of in-car
speakers is to be transferred to factories in Asia and Slovakia, as part of
Panasonic's global restructuring initiative.
|
Subsector
|
Share (%)
|
Rank
|
|
Televisions
and projectors (Panasonic)
|
9.6
|
3
|
|
Televisions
and projectors (JVC)
|
8.2
|
7
|
|
VCRs and
DVD players (Panasonic)
|
14.4
|
1
|
|
VCRs and
DVD players (JVC)
|
8.1
|
5
|
|
Home audio
and cinema (Panasonic)
|
17.3
|
2
|
|
Home audio
and cinema (JVC)
|
3.4
|
9
|
|
Camcorders
(Panasonic)
|
9.4
|
3
|
|
Camcorders
(JVC)
|
8.8
|
5
|
|
Portable
media players (Panasonic)
|
9.0
|
3
|
|
Portable
media players (JVC)
|
1.7
|
6
|
|
Mobile
phones (Panasonic)
|
2.2
|
6
|
|
In-car
media players (JVC)
|
1.6
|
8
|
|
Speakers (JVC)
|
1.4
|
7
|
Source: Trade press, Company research, Trade
interviews, Euromonitor International estimates
