adminTOKYO. – Japanese electronic giant Panasonic says it will abandon research into new smartphones for retail consumers at home, as it struggles to make inroads in a sector dominated by Apple and Samsung.
The move comes two months after competitor NEC said it was pulling out of the market citing tough competition.
Executives of Panasonic cited lack of interest from the market of their end products, which they said was not good for business, hence the need to abandon more research in the smartphones.
“We will suspend developing new smartphones for the business-to-consumer market in Japan.
“Instead we will pour our business resources into smartphones for the business-to-business market that is expected to grow,” Panasonic said in a statement.
Panasonic said indications were very high that the business-to-business market was going to grow.
Corporate smartphones are devices used in businesses such as warehouses and hospitals where a number of people have to share up-to-date information across a large area.
Japanese electronics makers have struggled to compete since the rise of smartphones, and have been left behind.
US giant Apple and South Korea’s Samsung are leading the market.
The two companies’ flagship phones have a large share of Japan’s smartphone market.
NEC said in July it plans to exit its smartphone business, with chief financial officer Isamu Kawashima saying “we were late to enter the smartphone market, and we were unable to develop attractive products.
“We will be stopping doing business in the smartphones business mid-next year, as it’s not commercially viable”.
In the three months to June, Panasonic booked a net profit of 107,8 billion yen (US$1,08 billion), up 742 percent from a year earlier.
Operating profit stood at 64,2 billion yen, up 66 percent.
However, its mobile phone unit Panasonic Mobile Communications booked an operating loss of 5,4 billion yen, despite a 86 percent rise in sales.
Panasonic and its domestic rivals, including Sony and Sharp, have been undergoing painful restructuring aimed at stemming years of record losses largely tied to their electronics units.- AFP.
Online Reporter