(Nikkei BP Group)
(No.1 High-Tech News Site in Japanese)
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| Matsushita to Start Direct Sales of Personal Computers
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December 23, 1998 (TOKYO) -- Matsushita Electric
Industrial Co., Ltd. said it will start direct sales of
its "Let's note" notebook personal computers and related
products in 1999.
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Also, it said direct sales abroad are under
consideration.
The Let's note series is enjoying brisk sales. Panasonic
Computer Company (PCC), an independent organization in
Matsushita's corporate structure, will set up the
Internet shop and start direct sales to Japanese users
by receiving orders online or by means of electronic
commerce (EC).
"We have already started research on the possibility of
direct sales abroad, including the role of local
partners," said Ryuichi Kurabayashi, president of PCC.
The Internet shop reportedly targets corporate customers
at the beginning. PCC has already started direct sales
for the Matsushita group. It intends to expand the
target customers after establishing methods for billing
and collecting payments.
Considering the influence to the existing distributors,
the Internet shop will not sell strong-selling products
such as Let's note alone. The company plans to sell
bundled products with peripheral devices and software.
The Matsushita group has no experience selling PCs
overseas. There is a possibility of adopting a business
model similar to the way Dell Computer Corp. of the
United States is doing business, Kurabayashi said.
The company is considering several ways of selling such
as outsourcing distribution to local companies or
choosing carriers as partners. It is necessary to review
the product lineup, Kurabayashi noted, as B5-sized
notebook PCs are not popular in the United States.
The company may have to start development from scratch,
as it deals with B5-sized notebook PCs as mainstay
products, Kurabayashi added.
(BizTech News Dept.)
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