Panasonic wraps smartphone business from Japan

Panasonic has reportedly confirmed that it will end selling smartphones in Japan owing to increased popularity of rival brands like Samsung, Apple and Sony.

Japan's largest network NTT Docomo said that it would not promote Panasonic devices and instead focus its marketing efforts on phones from Sony and Samsung.

Panasonic's president, Kazuhiro Tsuga said that the division was likely to lose more than the 11million dollars across the financial year ending in March, the BBC reports.

Tsyga further said that the company cannot be bleeding red ink like this and they have to think about ways to develop assets that they do have in a more effective direction. The company will now begin outsourcing production of handsets sold to other countries such as India.

The report said that in 2001 NEC and Panasonic were the two bestselling handset makers in Japan.