Panasonic IFA 2014 Press Conference at Berlin (Full Transcript)

Panasonic held its press conference at IFA 2014 consumer electronics show held in Berlin, Germany this year. The Europe’s biggest CES was held this year from September 05 to 10, 2014. Here is the full transcript of the Panasonic IFA 2014 press conference…

Patrice Bouédibéla

Good afternoon and welcome to IFA and Panasonic’s press conference here in Berlin. My name is Patrice Bouédibéla and we’ve got a great show for you today, so let’s get started.

But before we start with our first speaker, let me give you a sneak preview about the final 15 minutes because we will have an exciting announcement towards the end. In fact, I would even bet it will be one of the hottest topics of the IFA this year. So stay tuned.

Now let’s start the first presentation.

Panasonic is more diverse than perhaps you would have expected from an electronics company. As we all know, it is most famous here in Europe for its product development in the consumer electronics sector. Yet, over the past 18 to 24 months, the company has been integrating and cross-pollinating its expertise in its consumer electronics elsewhere across the company. Very shortly, we will be hearing examples of how Panasonic has achieved this, and how it’s once again leading the way in the development of innovative technologies for home and car and wider settings such as a whole town.

It really is interesting to see how a company steeped in a consumer heritage is able to use its expertise and transfer it to other sectors.

So without further ado, let’s welcome Panasonic’s Chairman and CEO for Europe, Laurent Abadie.

Laurent Abadie – Chairman and CEO, Panasonic Europe

Thank you, Patrice. Welcome everyone, and this is a very important issue for us, this IFA 2014. In fact, in the space of just one year, our business has strengthened and changed a lot. We are on the road of recovery. Our recent quarterly results were strong with solid sales supporting a substantial increase in operating profit, in fact, 28% compared to the same quarter last year.