On September 26, Panasonic announced that it will withdraw from the personal use Smartphone industry but will continue conventional cellphones targeting business use. Panasonic’s Smartphone sales have reduced considerably as NTT Docomo targetted their marketing based on Apple’s iPhones, Samsung’s Galaxy and Sony’s Xperia series. Panasonic has also decided to sell its healthcare unit, which makes blood sugar monitoring equipment and electronic medical record-keeping systems, to US private equity firm KKR & Co. for about 165 billion Yen. As part of the deal, KKR will allocate a 20% share in Panasonic Healthcare to Panasonic by March 2014.
The company has decided to withdraw from the business in order to focus on more important business for the company, such as the housing sector. Panasonic has already raised about 160 billion Yen by selling buildings and stock holdings in companies including Toyota Motor and Honda Motor.
