News & Analysis
Yoshida in Vegas: Can green tech save Panasonic?
Junko Yoshida
1/9/2013 11:21 AM EST
Exiting mobile phones
Tsuga also said many of the businesses he highlighted in his CES keynote speech – automotive, avionics, white goods, personal healthcare products – still have the potential to generate profits. As for TVs, he said it is no longer a "standalone" business. Instead, Tsuga calls TV an "infrastructure-based product" because content, broadcast and services must merge to make TV work. In contrast, home appliances are "standalone" products that Panasonic can exploit to generate profit.
TV isn’t a business Panasonic is willing to walk away from any time soon. Tsuga said customers expect it to provide state-of-the-art TVs, adding that TV is a platform, not a standalone product. TV manufacturing allows Panasonic to develop new solutions and services, he added.
There is one market Panasonic is exiting: mobile phones. It plans to slash much of its mobile business in Europe and Japan after struggling to make any headway in the global smartphone market. Referring to diverging standards in the emerging LTE market, Tsuga added, “That’s too much for us. The margin for mobile handsets is too low.”
Tsuga answered every question with striking candor, and his keynote presentation was both smooth and effective. It remains to be seen whether Tsuga’s obvious competence and sincerity will enough to turn around struggling Panasonic..
Panasonic chief Kazuhiro Tsuga on stage at CES 2013 keynote.
Tsuga also said many of the businesses he highlighted in his CES keynote speech – automotive, avionics, white goods, personal healthcare products – still have the potential to generate profits. As for TVs, he said it is no longer a "standalone" business. Instead, Tsuga calls TV an "infrastructure-based product" because content, broadcast and services must merge to make TV work. In contrast, home appliances are "standalone" products that Panasonic can exploit to generate profit.
TV isn’t a business Panasonic is willing to walk away from any time soon. Tsuga said customers expect it to provide state-of-the-art TVs, adding that TV is a platform, not a standalone product. TV manufacturing allows Panasonic to develop new solutions and services, he added.
There is one market Panasonic is exiting: mobile phones. It plans to slash much of its mobile business in Europe and Japan after struggling to make any headway in the global smartphone market. Referring to diverging standards in the emerging LTE market, Tsuga added, “That’s too much for us. The margin for mobile handsets is too low.”
Tsuga answered every question with striking candor, and his keynote presentation was both smooth and effective. It remains to be seen whether Tsuga’s obvious competence and sincerity will enough to turn around struggling Panasonic..
Panasonic chief Kazuhiro Tsuga on stage at CES 2013 keynote.
Related stories:
- CES slideshow: Gadgets galore at opener
- Sharp doubles down on large screen TV
- Corey Booker endorses Panasonic's 'better world'
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iniewski
1/9/2013 11:41 AM EST
Green is good for your body and our planet...but rarely good for business...unless government provides financial incentives...where I live (Vancouver, BC) most people think we are the green city, but the hard truth is most jobs are related to dirty resources we dig out and transport (we also cut lots of trees which is kind of green in reverse)...so the moral of the story for Panasonic is that if the government pays for it the green strategy is a sound one
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Yog-Sothoth
1/9/2013 2:47 PM EST
Panasonic could learn a lesson on usability from Apple. My home (wired) phone is from Panasonic; I have lost the instruction manual after less than a year and I cannot figure out how to add a number to the phonebook - it is reminescent of mobile phones in the days before the iPhone.
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Bert22306
1/9/2013 4:50 PM EST
Actually, I agree with Tsuga. If I understand what he's saying, he wants Panasonic to market its various products as eco-friendly. It's a valid marketing strategy.
Say a car company is developing a new model. They will look around for air conditioning vendors. If Panasonic markets auto A/C systems as "green products," designed for greater efficiency than previous ones, that might be enough for the auto company to choose Panasonic.
The trick is to keep manufacturing costs in check while still being able to legitimately make "green" claims. I don't think this is impossible. We see this in new products every day.
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iniewski
1/9/2013 9:42 PM EST
Most "green" claims Bert are fake upon close examination...besides everything claims to "green" these days so what is the point...even oil companies in Canada claim to be green
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Bert22306
1/10/2013 4:01 AM EST
No doubt. However, that doesn't take away from the claims being a marketing strategy.
Much like claims of "organic food." (The only inorganic food people can ingest in quantity is salt, but why quibble.)
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selinz
1/10/2013 1:53 PM EST
I really don't think the majority of the consumer population cares whether their TV is green or not. (I define care as willing to pay 10% more). Call me a cynic. But when the law mandates, the manufacturers must follow.
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iniewski
1/10/2013 6:43 PM EST
Good point selinz...my observation has been that in most cases people support "green" unless they have to pay 10% more
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Patk0317
1/10/2013 10:47 PM EST
I think this is a valid strategy in a company as diverse as Panasonic. Tsuga is making lemonade out of lemons. Air conditioners are now a commodity item. Taking their experience and applying it the EVs makes sense as there is still profit in that and even standard cars would want to integrate an air conditioning system that used less energy and thus improves gas mileage.
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