Japanese electronics manufacturer, Panasonic is tomorrow July 17 opening its first Panasonic Plaza – a fully equipped and comprehensive showroom in Nairobi Kenya raising hopes of affordable smartphones, equipment, electronics and house appliances for East Africans.
The Nairobi launch comes just days after its promise to inject $250 million in its India operations in the next three years. Panasonic said it will pump the cash into the Asian economy which it sees as a high growth market.
Though details on how much the firm has spent to set up its Kenyan operations have not been made available to TechMoran, the firm will inject a reasonable amount to push its products to be visible in the market that’s currently dominated by Samsung and Nokia.
Just like in India, Panasonic is set to push both low-end and high-end smartphones and appliances ranging from as little as US$100 into East Africa in a move to gain a reasonable market share apart from a mere presence.
Panasonic has for over 50 years successfully used distributors and partners across the world giving it a 66th position in the Forbes Global 500 companies across the world.
But stuff has changed especially with the launch of Panasonic Plaza, Panasonic’s home in East Africa will help it reach many of its clients, partners and consumers who were earlier buying its products from distributors.