Panasonic confirmed that it will expand its smartphone business to the European market in March 2012. The Japanese company targets increasing smartphone sales outside its home market to 9 million units in the fiscal year to March 2016, using Europe as a stepping stone to the global market. The first phone to target the European market will be an ultra-slim D-shaped design with a 4.3-inch OLED screen with QHD resolution and water and dust resistance. Using this as a reference model, Panasonic will expand its lineup, aiming at sales of 1.5 million smartphones in Europe next fiscal year. By fiscal year 2016, Panasonic targets global sales of 15 million units, including 9e million in Europe, Asia, China and the US and 6 million in Japan (of which five million smartphones). Panasonic's Systems & Communications Company (SNC) set up in April this year will handle the new products, making use of an existing factory in Malaysia which produces phones already for the Japanese market.
