Panasonic Gobel targets 20% sales growth this year

JAKARTA. PT Panasonic Gobel Indonesia, one of the country’s major electronics manufacturers, is expecting double-digit growth in sales this year following slow business performance last year.

Panasonic Gobel, a subsidiary of Japan’s largest home appliance maker, targets to book 20 percent growth in sales in the new fiscal year ending in March next year, according to president director Hiroyoshi Suga.

“To attain this target, we will continue introducing a number of models, such as televisions, audio systems and refrigerators for Indonesian consumers as well as some premium models, which are important to the brand’s image,” he told The Jakarta Post on the sidelines of a press briefing on Panasonic’s business strategy in 2014.

Panasonic saw sales of its electronics products expand by less than 10 percent last year as sales in the second half dropped due to several factors, including the depreciation of the rupiah against the US dollar, which pushed up prices.

Weather was also blamed for the decline in sales of some products like refrigerators.

However, some of its home appliances, which were designed particularly for Indonesian buyers, rose considerably last year. Sales of televisions and audio systems, for instance, expanded by 30 percent and 170 percent, respectively.

By achieving the target, Panasonic anticipates to book the biggest sales in Southeast Asia, overtaking neighboring country Malaysia, according to Suga.

One of the key contributors to the high growth would be sales of televisions, particularly those under 32 inches, vice president director Rinaldi Sjarif said.

Panasonic had earlier focused on televisions with 32-inch screens or wider, but in the past two years, it has been looking into the lower segment, which makes up the majority of the local television market.

The segment of televisions with screens under 32 inches account for around 80 percent of overall television sales that will top 4.8 million units this year, according to the firm’s estimates.

“Our sales growth in this segment is high, but by value the figure is still small. That’s why we want to focus on boosting sales there,” Rinaldi said, adding that the 2014 World Cup from early June to July was expected to push up television purchases.

Aside from sales to individual customers, Panasonic would also tap into a huge potential market in providing a wide range of electronics products for business and industrial customers, such as automobile manufacturers, airlines and infrastructure developers, Rinaldi further said.

Apart from large-scale corporations, it would also meet the needs of small and medium enterprises through various products, including digital archive devices, printers and surveillance tools, he added.

“We expect business-to-business sales will make up a 7 to 8 percent share of our total sales, up from around 5 percent last year,” Rinaldi said.

The target is part of the Panasonic’s goal in the next five years to make sales of electronic products to commercial customers 20 percent of its overall annual sales.

Panasonic Gobel is now the 10th largest sales earner for the Panasonic group worldwide.

The Electronics Producers Association (Gabel) has yet to release its estimate of electronics sales this year and realized sales for last year. It anticipated slower growth of 15 percent to Rp 33 trillion (US$2.86 billion) last year from 2012 due to the volatile exchange rate of the local currency that slowed imports and increased electricity prices.