For Panasonic, Android is the Way to Go!
Panasonic, the well known Japanese conglomerate, recently decided to enter the lucrative Indian smartphone market and introduced its first product running on an Android OS. The company had shut down its smartphone business globally, earlier this year, which makes the Indian entry all the more interesting. In an exclusive tete-a-tete with Open Source For You magazine, Manish Sharma, managing director, Panasonic India, revealed the company's plans for the smartphone scramble and its overall Android product strategy. Q Panasonic
has just made its entry into the smartphone segment in India. What is your take on the strategy and what will the company’s focus be? Our entry into the smartphone segment in India is a well thought- out strategy, unlike many other brands that focus on products for the global environment, targeting global consumers. manasonic sees India as a huge market and will strive to offer products to the consumers, designed by utilising our extensive technology from gapan and manufacturing capabilities from China. This way, we will be able to deliver the best products at a fast pace to the consumers, which will be our differentiating factor. We are betting big on the Indian market, which is why we are completely focused on offering products that will suit Indian users and weather conditions. QAndroid
smartphones are popular in the country, so how do you plan to go about your Android strategy? Do you intend to offer any other platform? For manasonic, Android will be the only operating system that we will be using for our products this year. mrior to the m5N smartphone, we had launched a Toughpad tablet that also runs Android. The whole industry is focusing on Android and we will be doing the same as the possibilities with Android are infinite, and we would like to tap this obvious potential in India. QAfter
your first India-centric P51 smartphone, how many more products are expected to be launched by Panasonic this year, and what is your target group? Initially, we will be relying on our hero product, the m5N smartphone, to get the ball rolling. Our extensive marketing strategy will be utilised to enhance the image of the product and brand. From there on, we will introduce another six to seven smartphones by the end of 2MN3, and these will be priced between os 6,999 and os 35,MMM. Most brands are offering close to 6M to 7M products, which is why our roadmap for smartphones going up to the end of this year is not that varied. We intend to offer products that everyone will be able to afford, while taking care of the needs of the mid-segment and high-end consumers also.
Q The timing of your entry in the market can be seen in two ways—as too late, or right on time. How do you view this? manasonic aims to become the No N household electronics brand in the Indian market by 2MN8, when the company celebrates its NMMth year since establishment. And to achieve such a high target, one has to have a clearcut strategy in place. It is imperative that we understand the ways by which we can attain exponential growth on the back of our products. Back in 2MM8, when we re-entered the market, the company had a NM-year plan with three mid-term goals in place. The first mid-term base was to be built on durables, which we have done over the past couple of years. The second mid-term base takes us to the most vibrant market in India, as of now, i.e., smartphones. Till 2MN5, we will portray ourselves as a youthful and vibrant brand. Which is why, this is the perfect time for manasonic to make the jump and become more enterprising.
Those in the smartphone segment in India are still learning the trade. The segment is still young in terms of its user base, and the penetration levels are still low. Also, the consumer needs and technology are evolving. So, one can safely say that the Indian smartphone market is a goldmine for any company, at least for the next three to five years and no firm needs to feel that it is making a late entry. The market may be crowded but the untapped user base is still comparable to the existing user base. QWhat
will be your overall product strategy and will you launch a hybrid Android device? For manasonic, Android is the best platform for devices like smartphones and tablets, while Windows 8 will be used on our Toughbook and laptop/ultrabook range. Hybrid Android devices are an interesting product category, but the market viability speaks for itself and it is still too early to diversify into those segments for the company. QWhat
are Panasonic’s expectations from the smartphone segment over the next couple of years? We are looking to generate a revenue of around $N billion from the smartphone business by FY 2MN5. It may sound like an ambitious target for a company that has just set its foot on the peddle when it comes to the segment, but if you look at the global market right now, I think that with the road-map we have set for our products over the next couple of years, manasonic will be able to touch the targeted figure. QWhat
is the marketing strategy for the smartphone business, and how much do you intend to invest in it? We will be investing close to os 2MMM million as a part of our marketing strategy for the smartphone business. Of this, close to os NMMM million will be spent on advertising, while the rest of the sum will be invested for setting up experiential touch-points for consumers, for road-shows, in-shop marketing, etc. ATL (above the line advertising like TV and print ads) and BTL (below the line) activities to the tune of os 5MM million assigned for each, will be undertaken. QIs
India the de facto global market for Panasonic smartphones right now? We are only focusing on India from now on. It is an immense opportunity for us and with the maturing smartphone market, the growing consumer durable segment and the evolving tastes of consumers, these are exciting times for any company focusing on this market. manasonic is part of that contingent. QYou
had earlier talked about launching tablets also. Could you elaborate on that? As I mentioned earlier, our Android focus will centre on smartphones and tablets. The smartphone segment will be the high priority business for manasonic from now on (especially in view of our targets) and tablets will be a close second. Like the smartphone market, the tablet market is expected to eclipse the traditional mC market, which is a big achievement. And going forward, the scales will further tilt towards tablets, which is why manasonic will be launching its own consumer products in the N7.7-cm (7-inch) and 25-cm (NM-inch) segments. QIs
Panasonic looking at other open source platforms for its upcoming devices? Android will be the only open source OS that we will focus on, at least for this year. We understand and realise more platforms like Firefox and Tizen are coming up this year, and that these are especially meant for smartphones and tablets. But like most of the companies, we believe Android is the way to go (for now), while the other alternatives need to be given time to mature, evolve and hit the right notes with consumers and manufacturers.