Panasonic to Expand Interior Lighting Business in Asia to More Than Double Overseas Sales

Osaka, June 10, 2013 – (ACN Newswire) – Panasonic Corporation today announced a full-scale expansion of its interior lighting business into Asia, as part of the company’s drive to increase overseas sales of such products. Starting with the launch of interior LED lighting fixtures in Vietnam this month, the company plans to expand the sales to Indonesia, India, Taiwan and Hong Kong. In China, where Panasonic is already selling ceiling lights, the offering will be strengthened with new products as well.

With this full-scale expansion into Asia, Panasonic aims to more than double the overseas sales of its interior lighting products in the fiscal year ending March 2016, from about 3 billion yen – mostly from China – recorded in the last fiscal year through March 2013.

Before LEDs arrived, it was not easy to promote the global-scale development of lighting business because residential lighting equipment using conventional light sources differ in specifications and designs from country to country. LEDs have opened a new window for the company to promote its lighting business globally by taking advantage of their unique properties.

Panasonic will develop lighting fixtures with designs that suit the tastes of each market while improving cost competitiveness. LED units and power sources that are used for products originally intended for the Japanese market can be standardized for mass production to lower costs. Offering high-quality, energy-efficient LED lighting based on the technologies Panasonic nurtured in Japan will also help ease the tight electricity situation in emerging markets. In Vietnam and other emerging markets, where rapid economic growth has strained their electricity grids, there is growing interest in energy saving, especially with lighting equipment, among consumers.

Panasonic is building and developing showrooms and distribution channels in Vietnam, Indonesia and India as customer contact points. The company will cultivate lighting consultants locally, who will provide Panasonic’s unique “Light Plans” that create a comfortable and ecological living space with the company’s lighting products. The Light Plans will be devised in light of the findings of the company’s thorough research on housing conditions in each market. In these countries, interior designers usually develop lighting plans. By providing the Light Plans to such designers, Panasonic will seek their adoption of its LED lighting products from the design stage as part of the design specifications.

As the first step in the expansion strategy in Asia, Panasonic will debut 40 models in the Vietnamese market, including large and small ceiling lights, downlights, brackets, line lights and chandelings (chandelier-like decorative ceiling lights). Similar lineups are being planned for the other countries. The large ceiling lights come with a remote control that allows users to adjust brightness and color temperature to fit each lifestyle scene. The downlights, which use “one-core” LED modules, cast a clear shadow without overlapping shadows. Providing a lineup featuring a wide variety of residential LED lighting products enables customers to coordinate lighting for their entire household.

Consumer spending is expected to continue increasing in emerging economies, with a large young population and a burgeoning middle class. Panasonic seeks to expand sales by proposing its Light Plans and LED lighting products to these customers and at the same time will promote an eco and smart lifestyle with energy-efficient solutions.

For further information on New Products for Asia, please visit the Panasonic newsroom at http://panasonic.co.jp/corp/global/news_m.html.

About Panasonic

Panasonic Corporation is a worldwide leader in the development and engineering of electronic technologies and solutions for customers in residential, non-residential, mobility and personal applications. Since its founding in 1918, the company has expanded globally and now operates over 500 consolidated companies worldwide, recording consolidated net sales of 7.30 trillion yen for the year ended March 31, 2013. Committed to pursuing new value through innovation across divisional lines, the company strives to create a better life and a better world for its customers. For more information about Panasonic, please visit the company’s website at http://panasonic.net/.

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