Matsushita to stop selling Panasonic

Matsushita Electric Philippines Corp. (MEPCO) will cease selling and distributing the Panasonic brand of industrial products in the Philippines effective April 1, 2004, the company told the Philippine Stock Exchange.

"The company will no longer sell and distribute Panasonic Industrial products in the Philippines thus Panasonic Industrial Sales Philippines, the industrial division of MEPCO that handles the above business activity will operate only until March 31, 2004," MEPCO corporate secretary Mamerto Mondragon said.

The Panasonic line accounts for 90 percent of MEPCO’s total business mainly audio video and small household appliances. MEPCO, the maker and distributor of Panasonic brand of electric and electronic appliances in the country, is not only the oldest among the Panasonic Group of Companies in the Philippines, but also the first Filipino-Japanese joint venture operation in the area of consumer electronics.

Last Oct. 1, MEPCO started using a single brand name "Panasonic" on all its products, in line with the new global strategy of mother company Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. of Japan to position Panasonic as its main global brand.

Panasonic said earlier it was looking at a 10 percent increase in sales this year to P7 billion through its aggressive marketing campaign.