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Interview: Panasonic Corporation is focussing more on AI, IoT and robotics in appliances – The Financial Express

Japanese consumer electronics major Panasonic has a very clear strategic intent, and that is to enhance its appliances portfolio for which India has been identified as a developmental hub. Be it innovation, R&D or exports, the company aims to mould the country into its offshore delivery centre. Recently, Panasonic India intensified its commitment to the government’s ‘Make in India’ vision by setting up its maiden refrigerator factory, situated at its Technopark manufacturing facility in Jhajjar, Haryana. Tetsuro Homma, CEO of Appliances Company and senior managing executive officer, Panasonic Corporation, and Manish Sharma, president and CEO, Panasonic India and vice president of Appliances Company, Panasonic, spoke to Sudhir Chowdhary on the company’s plans for the Indian market. Excerpts:

Our main markets for growth will be Japan, China and Asia because of the potential of markets there. For Appliances Company, in terms of profit expansion it is the third consecutive year and, with respect to revenue expansion it is the second year. We have a very firm business portfolio and are firmly on a high growth trajectory.

Manish Sharma: India continues to remain the corporation’s fastest growing division within the appliances segment. The growth has been quite significant for us in the country, we have grown above and beyond the industry average within the product categories of television and washing machines.

In the case of air conditioners, however, due to the implementation of GST during the crucial summer period and the uncertainty of the inventories, the industry grew in single digits and so was the case for Panasonic India. However, in other categories we are growing significantly higher than the industry, so in that context our market share has definitely expanded

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