Panasonic’s Second Spell – Can The Company Succeed With Smartphones?

In the year 2005, Panasonic had announced that they would stop shipments of mobile devices overseas as a result of poor sales. However, in the recent past i.e. 2012, the company launched a powerful android-based smartphone device named Panasonic Eluga. Will Panasonic manage to strike gold a second time?

Here’s a look at the Panasonic market in India, and the company’s comeback in the industry.

A Growing Market And New Releases

Panasonic operates from its base in Gurgaon, Haryana, with Manish Sharma at the helm as its Managing Director. On the 17^th of May, 2013, the managing director of the company announced the release of the first Panasonic smartphone in the country, the P51.

The P51 is a powerful smartphone device that runs on the latest version of Android i.e. Android Jelly Bean 4.2. It is also powered by a 1.2 GHz quad-core processor and has a screen size of 5.0 inches. The P51 also has an 8 MP rear camera, which is excellent for photography, along with a 1.3 MP front camera for the purpose of video calling.

The rear camera comes with an LED flash with autofocus, and the front camera allows recording at 720 pixels. The Panasonic P51 price in India is INR 21,790. But although the price might be a bit steep, the phone offers numerous features that make it well worth its price. The Panasonic P51 price in India may vary from one state to another as well.

With an aim to release a number of powerful smartphones in the market, Panasonic may prove to be a tough competitor for Samsung and Micromax

The managing director of Panasonic India said that the company would be a tough competitor for Apple and Samsung in the coming days, as it relies on speed, through the launch of nine smartphone models over a period of 3 months.

Although the names of these nine new releases haven’t been made public yet, the company notes that these devices would be in the range of INR 6,990 to INR 35,000.

Panasonic’s Approach In The Indian Market

The managing director of the company has thrown light on the goals of the company for the upcoming year in terms of their smartphone sales. He has highlighted the fact that Panasonic owns 50 percent of the market share in several parts of Japan, where the company is known for its security, energy, and surveillance. He further pinpointed that in India, there is a tremendous opportunity for smartphone companies to launch their devices as the industry is growing at a rapid rate.

The company aims at launching several phones in succession in an attempt to maximize sales, as it has been already established that products keep changing at a very fast pace in the current market, with features becoming obsolete within months.

After carrying out a SWOT analysis to determine the scope of their mobile devices in the Indian market, Panasonic has reached the conclusion that customers are looking for devices that offer better value for money more than anything else.

The Panasonic P51 price in India is a bit high, but offers certain features that one can’t find in any smartphone devices in the market

Although the features of Panasonic devices are almost the same when compared to handsets from Samsung or other companies such as Micromax, Panasonic’s mobiles are marked for their long-lasting battery, which are way more powerful than the batteries offered by most other smartphones in the market, at 2500 mAh. The company chooses to rely on its powerful battery and the latest version of the Android OS.

These are key features in any mobile, and with battery life being a chief concern especially with smartphones, this unique feature that Panasonic mobiles bring to the table can actually work in the company’s favor. Panasonic India expects to have 8 percent of the market share in its first year after releasing its primary device, the Panasonic P51 and the rest of the phones in the series.

The future of Panasonic Mobiles in the Indian market seems bright, as it focuses on delivering phones that offer high performance, rather than just appearance

If Panasonic plays its cards right and prices its mobiles affordably, it will be easier for the company to dominate the market. With the current features that the flagship Panasonic phone sports, it’s quite clear that Panasonic will grab its share in the Indian smartphone market in the coming months.