Panasonic to launch 5-6 new smartphones every quarter

Move aimed at supporting its 5 % market share target in India; also planning to spend around Rs 125 crore on brandbuilding

Electronic goods manufacturer Panasonic India plans to increase its marketshare in India in the smartphone segment to five per cent from the current two-three per cent.

The company plans to launch five to six smartphones every quarter in a year and spend around Rs 125 crore on brand-building to achieve the target.The electronics major exited the global smartphone business in 2013. It entered the Indian smartphone market during the same year.

Panasonic India is looking to expand its portfolio in the country to take its market share to five per cent in the next one year, Manish Sharma, managing director, Panasonic India and South Asia, told Business Standard.

According to him, Panasonic will spend about 30 per cent or Rs 125 crore of its total advertising budget, at around Rs 400 crore this year, on mobile phones only.

“Entering this segment was a step forward reiterating the company's focus on innovations and localisation,” said Sharma. He added mid-segment phones at 4-inch, 4.5-inch and 5-inch and costing between Rs 10,000 and Rs 15,000 would be the focus area.Currently, the company has a total of 15 smartphones and six feature phones in the market. The company’s entry-level smartphone range starts at Rs 6,490 and feature phone at Rs 2,000.

Panasonic India also expects to earn 30% of its consumer products revenue in the country from smartphones by 2018, said Sharma.

It has set a target to clock in $.4.8-billion revenue from India by 2018-19.

When asked if the company would look to manufacture phones in India, Sharma said currently it is outsourcing the production from China or Taiwan to be flexible and are not considering to do so in India. "However, we may look into such a proposition in future," said Sharma.