Over the next three years, Matsushita’s (Panasonic brand) growth outlook is likely to remain on course, but the plasma TV maker will miss its current revenue goal by about half a billion dollars by 2010, according to the latest research from Strategy Analytics.
The Boston analyst concludes in a new report that while Panasonic will remain relatively close to its predicted HD plasma sales numbers “in spite of its overly optimistic view of future market growth,” achieving sales goals for an HD byproduct, Blu-ray Disc players, will prove far harder in the next couple of years.
But achieving stated sales projections is not necessarily the same as achieving healthy sales, per se, in light of the competition. According to Strategy Analytics’ Peter King, the author of the analysis, Panasonic is right when it views both plasma and Blu-ray Disc as revenue growth opportunities.
“Our own analysis, however, indicates the company’s market projections are out of line with realistic medium-term forecasts,” King said. “Plasma TV markets, in particular, will fail to meet Panasonic’s expectations, although it is likely to achieve its revenue targets by winning substantially higher market share than Panasonic [itself] predicts.”
