At the time of establishing a business, Matsushita Electric Co., Ltd. has had frequent problems with its quality.
According to AQSIQ official website information, Matsushita Electric (China) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as 'Matsushita Electric') will recall two models of about 15,000 television sets in China due to security risks. As early as the end of January 2018, Matsushita Electric also recalled problematic parts of approximately 970,000 food processing machines of 12 models with potential safety hazards in Japan. In addition, several types of rice cooker products sold by Panasonic in China in 2017 were unqualified.
However, as the giants of the Chinese home appliance industry in the past, the splendid quality problems did not affect Matsushita’s determination to expand its market share in China. In addition to the independence of the Chinese home appliance business in 2017, it has recently been proposed that the Chinese home appliance business will reach 20 billion by 2020. The goal of annual sales was aroused by the industry.
Respondents said that in recent years, Panasonic’s home appliance business has lost ground in the Chinese market, and it is necessary to return to the product itself in order to seek development. The main competition faced by Panasonic’s home appliance business in the Chinese market is to counter the rise of high-end Chinese domestic brands. , At the same time, diversification of marketing channels is also a big challenge.
Regarding product quality, future development and other issues, a reporter from the China Business Daily sent a letter to Matsushita Electric Co., Ltd., which has not received a reply at the time of writing.
The quality issues are repeated
Recently, the reporter learned from the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine that Matsushita China has submitted a recall plan to the AQSIQ and will recall some Panasoni TV products produced from February 2012 to January 2013. The TV model involved is TH-L55ET5C. , TH-L47ET5C, The number of products affected in mainland China was 14,564 units.
There is a safety hazard that is the main cause of this TV recall. In the TV set of this recall, when the desk is installed, the resin material of the base is deformed due to the weight of the TV itself, and the resin material is frequently rotated in this state, causing resin material. Damaged, loose screws. If you continue to rotate, the screws may fall off, which will cause the TV to fall down. There is a potential safety hazard.
This is not the first time Matsushita Electric has called for a home appliance product because of a safety hazard in 2018. According to Xinhuanet, on January 31, Panasonic will recall the problem parts of its approximately 970,000 food processing machines due to quality problems in some parts. These products are sold in the Japanese domestic market.
It is understood that the above 12 food machine models start with MX-X and are manufactured by Panasonic from January 2009 to January 2016. Some consumers report that some metal plates under the cooking knife set will be used. During the process, it was damaged, shed, and mixed in food. Matsushita Electric had found several accidental eating events and two consumers had scratched their mouths with foods mixed with metal flakes.
In addition, the reporter consulted the AQSIQ official website and learned that Panasonic has recalled problem products in the Chinese market several times. Among them, in July 2017, Panasonic China announced the recall of some imported FZ-G1 series battery packs for tablet PCs, China. The number of affected products in the region totaled 2263. The battery cells in the recalled area were mixed with foreign materials during the production process. When used in a large temperature difference environment, the tablet may cause heat or even a fire. There is a potential safety hazard. As early as 2010, Panasonic China also recalled 365,574 refrigerators in the Chinese market because of potential safety issues.
It should be noted that Matsushita Electric's product quality problems are not only reflected in the recalls, but also exist in many models of rice cookers sold in the Chinese market. The reporters published the "Imported Products in 2017" issued by AQSIQ. According to the report on supervision of spot checks, 126 imported batches of rice cookers were spot-checked across the country, 17 batches of unqualified batches were detected, and the unqualified detection rate was 13.5%, while Matsushita Electric’s accounted for 7 batches. Multiple models.
'Whatever the situation, as a regular product, sales in the market should be responsible to consumers, especially the issue of safety hazards can not be vague.' Deputy General Secretary of the China Household Electrical Appliances Association Zhang Jianfeng analyzed the reporter, the product recall system itself is good, However, from the perspective of the company itself, it will also increase the cost. Therefore, the company must attach great importance to product quality. As far as possible, there should be no batch product quality problems. In particular, for international brands such as Panasonic, the impact of quality problems is certain. It is not good.
In addition, Zhang Jianfeng further pointed out that Panasonic frequently suffers from product quality problems and is also a reflection of the decline of Japanese home appliance brands. 'Over the past few years, the global home appliance market has been dominated by Chinese and Korean companies, and Japanese companies have experienced a general decline.'
Increased market competition
As a foreign brand that entered the Chinese home appliance market earlier, Matsushita Electric Co., Ltd. once created brilliant products. Air conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines, rice cookers and other products once took up a certain market share. However, with the rise of domestic home appliance companies in recent years, Matsushita Electric currently has major household electrical appliances. The market share has fallen sharply, lagging behind the frontline camp.
According to the Zhongkang Report, in 2017, the domestic brand competition for domestic rice cookers (online and offline) was further aggravated, the number of brands participating in the market was reduced, and the concentration of the top three brands increased. From the perspective of the competition of double-line retail sales, Midea’s Supor and Jiuyang occupy the top three positions in order of absolute advantage. The online market share is 35.4%, 26.1% and 9.6%, respectively. Panasonic ranks fourth in the fourth place. The difference in offline market share. It is even more obvious, Matsushita Electric was 2.8%, and Nine Yang was 12.2%.
The reporter also learned from the relevant report of the Orwin Cloud Network that, in the air-conditioner, refrigerator online and offline market share TOP5 brand list, Panasonic did not list. And washing machine offline market share TOP5 brand list, Matsushita Electric also only In fifth place, the market share was 6.31%, which was far lower than 27.8% and 19.12% of Haier and Little Swan. Online ranking was missed by the top five.
It is worth noting that Panasonic China has made major adjustments in recent years in order to expand its market share in China's home appliance market. In April 2017, Panasonic China made its home appliances business independent, and for the first time, Chinese Wu Liang served as Panasonic Home Appliances (China) Co., Ltd. (below Abbreviated as 'Panshita Home Appliances'. General Manager. Such a major move, Panasonic aims to expand the Chinese market more flexibly.
Only one year later, at the 2018 China Home Appliances and Consumer Electronics Expo, Panasonic Home Appliances shouted a target of hitting 20 billion yuan in annual sales within three years. According to the introduction of Matsushita Electric Appliances, since the company was founded in 2017, it has rapidly opened up R&D. Manufacturing, sales and other links to ensure the realization of regional high-end strategy. The company's sales in 2017 increased by 117% over the previous year. Mainland China is already the second largest overseas market for Panasonic’s home appliance business. Wu Liang said that in order to With the goal of achieving annual sales of 20 billion yuan, the company will adopt a series of new initiatives in brand, merchandise, marketing, and residential space strategy.
From the perspective of the performance of the Chinese market, Panasonic has been losing ground in recent years. To continue development, it is still necessary to return to the product itself. 'Zhang Jianfeng believes that Matsushita Electric Appliances has set a sales target of 20 billion yuan, only that the company is delivering to the market. Confidence, how to achieve is the key issue. 'Including product development, channel development, brand promotion, sales system, etc., we must do some specific actions, rather than just chanting slogans.'
Zhang Jianfeng pointed out that the main competition faced by Matsushita Electric Appliances in the Chinese market is to counter the rise of high-end Chinese domestic brands. In addition, the diversification of sales channels for home appliances in China is also a challenge for foreign brands. Only a first-tier and second-tier cities are involved. Traditional hypermarkets are not enough, and channel diversification has led to a decline in the sales volume of the original mainstream channels.
Lu Jianguo, director of the Institute of Testing Technology at the China Household Electrical Appliances Research Institute, told reporters: “At present, Panasonic’s washing machines, refrigerators, air purifiers and other products have improved in the Chinese market, and will achieve a 20 billion yuan target by 2020. possible. '
Lu Jianguo admitted that although Matsushita Electric has its own product features, it also faces certain competitive pressures in the Chinese market. 'Early domestic brand products and Matsushita Electric's products are not at a single level. Matsushita Electric has obvious advantages, but these After the rise of domestic brands in the year, domestic branded home appliances even exceeded foreign brands such as Panasonic.