Panasonic recently celebrated its 100th year in business, and after being a domestic powerhouse in Japan for over a century, the electronics giant is ready for more – starting with its cross-value innovation forum held at the end of October. NXT was in Tokyo to experience this one-in-a-lifetime celebration of technological prowess, a time and place where the revolutionary HomeX was announced.
This new project aims to create new value in daily living through user-experience and user-interface focused design ideally suited to different types of living spaces.
After the introduction of HomeX to the world, we spoke to Mr. Takehiko Ryu, Regional Head for Southeast Asia and Oceania and Managing Director of Panasonic Asia, to learn more about the goals and objectives about the new concept.
NXT: Singapore is not really into the concept of smart homes – how can Panasonic be the leader to guide the Singapore consumers down that path?
Mr. Ryu: I can’t say specifically about Singapore, but we feel that the whole Asia market is important for us. Just so you know, Panasonic is providing public housing in Japan and we want to expand our reach overseas. We have made headway into Malaysia and already have plans to do so in Indonesia. We are not targeting condominiums, but in fact we will be focusing on houses.
Panasonic Homes is taking initiatives to create the “Smart House” and “Smart Town.” I can’t say much at the moment, and although Panasonic Homes has disclosed more information about HomeX in Japan, we are not yet ready Singapore. In Japan, we want to build on smart homes first. And of course, we are expanding our home-building business overseas – by using HomeX and house-building, we will create smart homes.
NXT: How is Panasonic going to compete with the melting pot of China-born smart home brands?
Mr. Ryu: I think China is one of the countries leading the world into the future and change the smart home concept eventually. However, the demand for smart homes in Southeast Asia is also very high. As such, the focus of Panasonic Homes right now is to build on Asia first and we’ve already started the business arrangements there. By using HomeX, we will compete with China strongly, to be the leading smart home providers.
