Panasonic to procure mobiles in India within nine months

Expects contribution from mobile business to increase up to 50% by 2020; targeting Rs 2,000-cr sales this year

Japanese electronics major Panasonic is going to start procuring mobile handsets in India soon.

The company is increasing its focus in ‘security and surveillance’ and mobile handset industries in the country. Panasonic also plans to export handsets to west Asis and Africa within a year.

Mobile handsets which currently contributes 25% to Panasonic India’s revenue, is expected to increase up to 50% in next five years.

Last year, its handset business contributed Rs 700 crore and this year the company is expecting the sales to go up to Rs 2,000 crore which will push up Panasonic India’ revenue to Rs 7,000 crore.

“We are currently looking for suitable location to set up a manufacturing unit for mobile handsets in the country”, said Manish Sharma, managing director Panasonic India & South Asia.

The company is going to focus in the smart phones segment in India as more than 90% of its sales comes from that. But it Panasonic will be procuring feature phones for Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, too. According to Sharma, it will launch its handsets in west Asia by next month and plans to export to African countries within a year.

“India being the headquarter for South Asia, West Asia and Africa, apart from India, going forward we will be exporting to all these regions from India”, he added.

Currently, the company sales mobile phones through its distribution partner, Noida-based, Jain Marketing and Associates – the owner of the mobile brand Karbonn. Indicating that the company might tie-up with a OEM (original equipment manufacturer) to procure mobile handsets Sharma said, the company is considering all options as “(profit) margins depend on economies of scale”.