14 DAY TRIAL // It looks like all those cries coming from Android fans, who could only read on the powerful Android phones launched in Japan with no hope to be available outside the country, have been heard by at least one handset manufacturer.
Japanese company Panasonic has just revealed plans to expand its smartphone business to the European market in March 2102, and the intention to bring its Android phones in other markets, such as North America and more Asian countries, soon after.
In fact, Europe will serve as the experimentation ground for a possible expansion of its smartphone business in North America. Depending on how successful the company will be in Europe, the sooner it will expand its smartphone horizons in other countries.
According to Panasonic, the company “aims to bring its overseas smartphone sales to nine million units in fiscal year 2016, ending March 31, 2016, using Europe as a stepping stone to the global market.”
However, Panasonic’s announcement comes as a confirmation that more Chinese and Japanese companies are trying to tap into the smartphone business at a global scale.
To mark its entrance in the European market, Panasonic will launch an Android smartphone with the following characteristics: “an ultra-slim D-shaped design for easy portability, slim bezel with high viewing quality Quarter HD (QHD) 4.3-inch large organic light emitting diode (OLED) screen and waterproof and dustproof for ease of handling.”
Although the smartphone does not have a name yet, Panasonic plans to make it available globally, but will probably customize some of its specs depending on the market. The general technical characteristic announced are likely to remain the same.
Concerning its expectation from the smartphone market, the company said that “using this as a reference model, Panasonic will expand its lineup, aiming at sales of 1.5 million smartphones in Europe next fiscal year. Furthermore, in fiscal year 2016, Panasonic targets global sales of 15 million units, including nine million in Europe, Asia, China, and the United States and six million in Japan (of which five million are smartphones).”
