Panasonic's Problems
My first job out of college was to go to work for Panasonic at the Baltimore distribution Center. After spending 3 years with them, I went to work for one of their independent distributors in Baltimore. All total, I was involved with Panasonic's products for over 11 years. That was back in the early 70's to mid 80's.
I was saddened to hear aboout the news that Panasonic had lost money over the last few months and years. Clearly, the economy is a key factor in affecting sales of their products. As an observer, I think Panasonic has made some product errors that have cost them market share.
(1) Some ten years ago, they decided to pull out of the cellular phone business. Today, Telecom and cellphone is a huge industry, which they could be participating in. (2) They were slow to adapt to the digital change in products, from the analog products they were experienced in. (3) Their Technics product line was among HiFi's best, and they should have reduced their product line, offering more digital products. (4) They made significant investments in Plasma TV production, which has proved to be a bad decision. Plasma HDTV's suffer from "ghosting" their screen displays, and do not seem to have the clarity that LCD or LED screens have.
