What They Say
Panasonic has been reported as stopping its in-house production of TVs in Pilsen, Czech Rep. The factory is expected to close by the end of March 2022 with the loss of 450 jobs and around 450-550 agency staff. The firm said that weakness in TV demand was a factor. Sources indicate that the factory had declined from around 1.5 million sets around 15 years ago with around 2,500 staff, to about half that production volume last year and turnover dropped last year by 26%.
The factory will be used for other video products and heat pumps.
What We Think
The Czech Republic was a popular site for JOG (Just Outside Germany) production when TV set making moved to Eastern Europe from the West. It had a well educated labour force and a historic reputation for good engineering, but lower costs than Western Europe. (Pilsen is, of course, famous for beer production).
Nikkei reported earlier this year that Panasonic was considering outsourcing TV production to TCL. It’s not clear at press time if that is where production will go, but Panasonic has emphasised that it will continue to develop sets in Langen (Germany) as well as Japan. (BR)
