Panasonic mobiles are betting big on offline sales in order to tap the Tier 1 & 2 markets. The mobile segment of Panasonic sales 90 per cent of their stock offline and remaining on online. The Japanese telecom giant launched two phones Eluga Ray Max and Eluga Ray X. It is operating in India for more than a decade and is bullish about their low range and mid -range phones. It has launched two different phones, it will continue to flourish the market with 14-20 variants of the phone every year.
Retail sales or offline sales has always got the maximum pie of the market. Panasonic is trying to balance it between both the available options. They are planning to extend it's online sale till 30 per cent in one year and also expanding their retail presence apart from metros.
The overall sales target for Panasonic India was Rs 10,800 crores and specifically for the mobile division the amount was Rs 2500 crore but due to demonetisation it is not on track to complete the target. Talking to BW Businessworld, Manish Sharma, President & CEO, Panasonic India said, "Demonetisation has impacted the business, the market didn't perform well during that period and we are behind our target."
On the other hand, Sharma is not shying away to put a similar target for mobile revenues for the next financial year. He added, "We are targeting to sell 3 million devices of mobile phones for next year."
Currently, Panasonic has a retail presence in 9000 stores with 300 exclusive stores and 700 servicing centres. The company is planning to penetrate into tier I markets with offline and online presence by tying up with e-commerce website Flipkart. The company has planned to expand its reach to 20000 stores from 9000 stores in one year time.
When asked, How China's dominance in the market is impacting their business, he replied, "India is a large country with a large demand and we are doing adequately in the business."
At present, the market share of Panasonic India is 2.5 per cent, and they are claiming to reach 4 per cent by the end of next year.
BW Reporters
The author is a journalist with BW Businessworld. He primarily covers Retail, Media & Entertainment and Travel & Tourism sectors
