After years of being out of the game, Panasonic have announced today that they are set to return to the world of the mobile telephone with a 4.3 inch OLED smartphone. It’s ambitions are big with this new phone being launched March 2012 but with the statement in their press release stating that by 2016, they want to have nine million units sold in the 2016 fiscal year starting with us right here in Europe.
The phone will run Android and have an ‘ ultra-slim D-shaped design for easy portability’ as well as being ‘Waterproof and dustproof for ease of handling’.
Sounds fun eh! I need my phone to be more dustproof that’s for sure!
I’ve placed the full press release below for your reading please. I’m not sure I’ve ever owned a Panasonic phone before. Anyone out there excited for this one?
Panasonic to Expand Smartphone Business to European Market
Panasonic will expand its mobile phone business into the global market, targeting at nine million units of overseas sales in fiscal year 2016.
Tokyo, Japan – Panasonic announced today that it will expand its smartphone business to the European market in March 2012. At the same time, it announced its aim to bring its overseas smartphone sales to nine million units in fiscal year 2016, ending March 31, 2016, using Europe as a stepping stone to the global market.
With the mobile phone market rapidly shifting to smartphone usage worldwide and a steady growth expected particularly overseas, Panasonic aims to tap into this growth with its first global model smartphone for the European market in March 2012.
The main characteristics of the global model are:
1. An ultra-slim D-shaped design for easy portability
2. Slim bezel with high viewing quality Quarter HD (QHD) 4.3-inch large organic light emitting diode (OLED) screen
3. Waterproof and dustproof for ease of handlingUsing this as a reference model, Panasonic will expand its lineup, aiming at sales of 1.5 million smartphones in Europe next fiscal year. Furthermore, in fiscal year 2016, Panasonic targets global sales of 15 million units, including nine million in Europe, Asia, China, and the United States and six million in Japan (of which five million are smartphones).
The Panasonic Group created the Systems & Communications Company (SNC) in April this year in advance of its reorganization scheduled for January 2012 in order to handle products and services related to system, network and mobile communications. Within this company, Panasonic will maximize its internal resources, including making use of an existing factory in Malaysia. Currently, phones for the Japanese market are manufactured in this factory but now the same factory is also scheduled to manufacture the first global model as announced.
Panasonic will continue to expand its product lineup and increase sales in a speedy process by thoroughly utilizing the Group’s technological assets and development resources as well as its production and sales sites around the world, thereby strengthening development, production, and sales structure and product competitiveness.
