Sanyo sets to launch new products

(ĐN)- Although Sanyo still dominates the market for its two products including washing machines and refrigerators, managers of Sanyo HA ASEAN Corp. (SHA) feel worry about decreasing sales. The reason is that consumers are waiting for the price to fall further after Vietnam’s WTO entry.

New model of Sanyo washing machine

Vietnam’

s WTO entry. SHA Chairman Kosaku Kataoka said that there will be no price reductions in the future because the import tax rate of 38% will be imposed on goods imported from the US and European countries under WTO commitments while that the tax rate levied on imported products from ASEAN countries is less than 5% following ASEAN’s schedule. He added that the applied rate is the lower of the WTO rate.

The price of Sanyo’s refrigerators increased by 5% last month due to high raw material costs while consumers keep waiting for a price drop. Currently, Sanyo is planning to sell its products which do less harm to the environment, particularly by using less energy. Thus, the company is launching home appliances that use silver ion technology that deodorises appliances and kills bacteria inside washing machines, refrigerators and other products. Sanyo will continue to launch new products in calendar ‘07 including refrigerators and other products.

During ten years of operation in Vietnam, Sanyo announced that 2 million units of refrigerators and 1.5 million units of washing machines have been sold in the Vietnamese market. In addition, the company has exported over the past ten years large amounts to other countries including Japan.

Reported by Kim Loan