Singapore-based Panasonic System Communications has teamed up with Emem Sytesms Ltd, a concern of the country's conglomerate MM Ispahani Group, to market video conferencing and security systems in this country of 150 million population, Koji Yamada, a director with the unit, said in an interview.
The Osaka-based $100 billion group's unit has a wide array of products including office document, communication equipment, security systems, and digital signage.
Mr Yamada said his company is targetting what it calls "Next-5" that also includes frontier markets such as Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Laos and Cambodia.
He noted that the company's robust market share in PABX (Private Automated Branch Exchange) has boosted its confidence to move into selling cutting-edge video conferencing and security systems.
He estimated that the company would ring up sales of $5.0 million in the next two to three years in this segment, notwithstanding the regulatory hurdles.
"Our target is government agencies and multinationals operating in Bangladesh," he said, adding the demand is growing for video-conferencing as companies around the world are seeking to cut corporate travel costs in view of the global crisis.
"Many Japanese and Korean companies are operating here. They want to communicate with their head offices through this system," he said, adding the demand for such systems is growing.
But he saw regulations and poor network infrastructure as the major roadblocks that
could crimp initial market penetration.
Officials at Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) said companies wishing to communicate overseas using the video-conferencing system must secure approval for each time they use.
"This discourages companies to use this. (But) we believe this will be resolved sooner or later," the Panasonic official, now in the city to launch the system today, said.
Despite the less-developed network, Mr Yamada said the video conferencing system would gain ground. "We've carried out survey to assess the market potential," he added.
The expansion spree reflects the relative stability and growth potentials in Asia's frontier markets such as Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Myanmar.
It also reflects the Japanese electronics and home appliance major's business and marketing strategy toward new growth poles in Asia Pacific as demand in traditional markets is sapping.
The present government's mantra on 'Digital Bangladesh' means information and communication technology will be "much more common than in the past," said Mr Yamada, who moved to the city state in 2006 after serving with the company's sales and marketing division for 15 years.
In Bangladesh, he said his company's PABX sales have doubled to $1.0 million so far this year from 2010.
"We expect to see growth doubling over the next five years not only for sales in telephony systems, but also for other segments," he told the FE.
The company's target is to sell IP (Internet Protocol) systems worth $3.7 million in five regional markets at the end of the year.
Although the company's market share is less than 10 per cent in security devices because of the availability of low-priced Chinese ones, the company official said customers are now seeking quality products.
The Japanese-born official said his company controls 40 per cent market share in communications systems in the Asia Pacific region that covers mainly Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and India.
"We're re-branding Panasonic on how it would be in 2018," he said about the Osaka-based $100 billion group's 100th anniversary.
The 68-year-old Ispahani group has interests in tea, textiles, jute, shipping, information technology, foods, travel and poultry.
_________________
???? ???
m.i.a super bowl coin toss madonna super bowl halftime kelly clarkson super bowl giants super bowl 2012 half time show halftime show 2012
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.