Panasonic: Romanian crisis, worse than in Greece and Ireland

Sales of electronics in Romania plummeted in 2009-2010, with the impact of the crisis being stronger than in countries like Greece and Ireland, Laurent Abadie, chairman and CEO for Europe of Panasonic told ZF in an interview.

“In Romania, the impact of the crisis was the most powerful in Europe, more visible than anywhere else, even compared with countries like Ireland and Greece. The market decline was close to 60%, with no other country witnessing such a drastic trend,” Abadie said. Sales of electronics in Romania fell by 40% in 2009 and by a further 15% in 2010, according to Panasonic. The company, however, increased sales by 5% to 23 million euros in the first fiscal half of 2010 (April-September), mainly because of the higher demand for TV sets during the World Football Cup.

Panasonic ranks fourth on the TV sets market worldwide after Samsung, LG and Sony. In Romania 75% of its sales are generated by TVs.
Panasonic estimates sales in Romania will go up both because of the rebound of the economy and of the efforts the company will make to boost market share.