Editorial Contact: Editorial Contact:
Jeffrey Ayers Bill Brennan
Tel 516 609 9500 Tel 201 392 4901
ayersj@us.panasonic.com brennanw@us.panasonic.com
http://www.panasonic.com/office
Panasonic Expands, Streamlines Office Products Distribution Network
New business model broadens dealer product line to facilitate end-to-end solution sales
SECAUCUS, NJ January 29, 2009 — Panasonic Communications Company of North America (PCCNA) today announced the Authorized Reseller Program as well as the appointment of three major regional distribution partners. Under this program PCCNA will transition many of its authorized dealers to the reseller program, fulfilling all their product and support needs through these distribution partners. The program offers many benefits to the reseller, which includes providing them access to a wider selection of Panasonic and complementary aftermarket products, streamlines interfacing with factory support services, and expands corporate financing programs.
"I am proud and excited to announce the selection of New Wave Distributing, Parrot Distributing, and West Coast NuWorld Business Systems who will be distributors for a variety of Panasonic products including C3 MFPs, enterprise printers, scanners, Panaboards™ and other products in our newly created eastern, western, and southern office sales solutions regions," PCCNA National Sales Director Bill Brennan said. "This enlarged, more robust distribution system will enable dealers to increase their profits by adding more Panasonic and related third-party products to their lines and increase PCCNA's growth rate by giving us more 'feet on the street' and more sales reps making personal calls on potential customers.
"The new model will also enable dealers with support or financing issues to connect with us via one of our new distributors, who are, quite frankly, more nimble and tightly focused than we -- or any other major core manufacturer -- ever could be."
Brennan noted that the new system will substantially benefit end users by providing them with one-stop ordering and support options for a wide range of synergistic Panasonic products.
"In many cases, if you're using an interactive whiteboard you also need a projector and an IP camera," he said. "Even though Panasonic has long been an industry leader in those product categories, it has been historically difficult for PCCNA channel partners to offer them because of divisional differences in distribution networks. Under our new full-line distributor-to-dealer model,
all our channel partners across the country will have access to a much broader range of complementary products."
According to Brennan, customers will benefit from another significant value-added feature of the new model.
"Much as we try to anticipate and avoid problems -- and we have zeroed them out in well over 95 percent of our deployments -- issues do sometimes develop," he said. "Occasionally equipment isn't integrated on their network exactly the way a customer needs it to be, and once in awhile a training session has to be reinforced.
"In the past, end users had to deal with one vendor if the issue occurred in one part of the system, a different vendor if it was somewhere else, and a third if it involved a peripheral attached to a system. The worst case scenario, a system-wide issue, could, on rare occasions, leave both the customer and the vendors scratching their heads and wondering whose responsibility it was.
"Today, a customer who orders a turnkey end-to-end solution from one of our dealers has only one phone call to make -- to get fast, comprehensive, expert support."
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About Panasonic
Panasonic Corporation is a worldwide leader in the development and manufacture of electronic products for a wide range of consumer, business, and industrial needs. Based in Osaka, Japan, the company recorded consolidated net sales of 9.07 trillion yen (US$90.7 billion) for the year ended March 31, 2008. The company's shares are listed on the Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and New York (NYSE Symbol: PC) stock exchanges. For more information on the company and the Panasonic brand, visit the company's website at http://panasonic.net/.
About Panasonic Corporation of North America
Based in Secaucus, NJ, Panasonic Corporation of North America markets a broad line of digital and other electronics products for consumer, business and industrial use. The company is the principal North American subsidiary of Panasonic Corporation -- formerly Matsu****a Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. of Japan -- and the hub of Panasonic’s U.S. branding, marketing, sales, service and R&D operations. Information about Panasonic and its products is available at http://www.panasonic.com. Additional company information for journalists is available at http://www.panasonic.com/pressroom.
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*Manufacturer’s suggested retail price. Resellers must decide for themselves the prices at which our products are actually advertised and sold.
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