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Huge Distribution takes over Panasonic business in SA

Admire Moyo
By Admire Moyo, ITWeb's news editor.
Johannesburg, 01 Mar 2021

Huge Distribution has rebranded its Panasonic business in SA after the Japanese electronics giant exited the business communications market.

Panasonic recently decided to close its business communications business (PBX, SIP and scanner categories) in a time frame of two years.

According to Huge Distribution, this is part of an ongoing strategic decision impacted by a market migration to cloud-based solutions accelerated by the global pandemic.

“For those businesses relying solely on Panasonic for years, it is understandable that it could seem very challenging to design a plan that forces a fundamental transformation,” says Huge Distribution.

“Continuous market change has been exacerbated recently with the rise of cloud-based solutions, and Panasonic said it found a ‘technological mismatch’ between its factory resources and such market trends,” it adds.

The distributor says the global pandemic forced the adoption of new ways of working and challenged business owners to reimagine their workspaces into the future. Remote working is no longer a temporary solution – this hybrid way of working is here to stay, the company notes.

As an authorised distributor for Panasonic telecommunications (under the Pansmart brand), Huge Distribution points out that it has rapidly responded to these new circumstances.

In 2019, JSE-listed Huge Group acquired a shareholding in Pansmart that gave it control of an authorised distributor of Panasonic's voice, video and CCTV products.

At that time, the group said Pansmart would retain its name, and it will incorporate Huge Group branding alongside its current branding.

“Even though thousands of South African businesses will be impacted by Panasonic’s move, our resellers can rest assured they will still be supported for the foreseeable future. We will work with them to ensure their needs are met and that their customers are supported most effectively,” says the company.

Huge Distribution managing director Louis Fourie says: “The company’s rebranding, name change and future strategic direction signifies a commitment to our partners, the Huge Group board, and ourselves.

“Huge Distribution is entirely customer-centric. Since the company’s inception, we have remained 100% focused on serving our channel partners. The changes we’ve made in just two months prove that commitment – to being fluid and moving with the market and making sure our resellers have a full suite of telecoms products and services to keep them relevant, profitable and sustainable.”



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