James Delahunty
28 Apr 2008 19:22
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. has reported soaring profits for the first quarter of 2008 compared with the same period of the previous year. The consumer electronics giant, which specializes in products including cell phones, DVD players, flat-panel televisions and household appliances, said it earned ¥61.6 billion ($589.47 million), up from ¥23.4 billion for the same quarter of 2007.
Quarterly sales dipped 4% from 2.282 trillion a year earlier to 2.199 trillion yen ($21.04 billion). A spokesman for Matsushita said the drop was largely due to an exclusion in group sales of revenue from Victor Company of Japan, which had a status change from subsidiary to affiliate last year.
Sales of video and audio equipment rose 5% compared to last year, with strong demand for flat-panel TVs and DVD players. Matsushita President Fumio Otsubo told a Tokyo news conference that the company plans to put more effort into emerging countries such as Russia and Brazil, where a boom in demand for consumer electronics is expected.
Earlier this year Matsushita announced that it will change its name to Panasonic Corp., after it's most popular brand. The move will drop the name of the original charismatic founder of the company, Konosuke Matsushita.