According to Sankei Shimbun News, on December 6, Panasonic announced the establishment of a new factory for the production of kitchen appliances such as microwave ovens and rice cookers in Zhejiang Province of China, with an investment of 4.5 billion yen, and plans to start operations in 2021. This is Panasonic's new establishment of a new factory in China after 16 years. It is reported that it is because of the increasing number of middle class in China and the target demand of the Chinese market.

The new factory is located in Jiaxing City, Zhejiang Province and covers an area of ​​about 50,000 square meters. In addition, a new company has been established for the operation of the factory, with product design and development functions, and is committed to developing products equipped with IoT technology. Most of the engineers are Chinese.

Previously, Panasonic had already produced kitchen appliances in factories in Shanghai and Hangzhou in order to increase market share. The new factory in Zhejiang is also optimistic about China ’s huge population base and the development prospects of IoT appliances in China. It is reported that Panasonic expects to build new factories. Annual sales by 2022 will be 2 billion yuan (approximately 30 billion yen).

Tsuga Kazuhiro emphasized that Panasonic, which cannot win in the Chinese market, has no future. Panasonic, which is facing difficulties in the in-vehicle business, now plans to find a breakthrough from the smart home, and believes that China is the market for the smart home business.

But at present, it seems that Panasonic's sense of presence in China is not high. The white goods sector has to compete with Haier and Midea in the price war. I wonder if Panasonic is ready.