Panasonic wants to remind everyone that the relationship with a customer doesn’t end at checkout. The Japanese electronics giant has wrapped its Customer Service Strategy Conference 2026, a virtual gathering that pulled together its Middle East & Africa arm, regional business partners, factory representatives, and its Quality Assurance group to take stock of the past year and set the agenda for the next.
It sounds like an internal affair, but the subtext is strategic. In a region where LG, Samsung, and a wave of aggressive Chinese brands are all fighting for the same shelf space, after-sales service is one of the few levers left for a legacy name to defend loyalty. Panasonic is betting that faster repairs and better-stocked service centers can do what spec sheets increasingly can’t.
What actually got discussed
The agenda centered on three things: a review of the customer-service division’s FY25 performance, a strategic roadmap for FY26, and a look at the company’s latest Service Spare Parts and Customer Delivery (SSCD) lineup — essentially the logistics backbone meant to get parts to service centers faster and cut down on repair waits.
The headline moment was the STAR Service Competition awards, which single out partner-run service centers for standout performance. This year’s winners were Ghamdan Trading Company in Qatar, Omasco in Oman, and Modern Electronics Co. Ltd. in Saudi Arabia — a reminder that in these markets, Panasonic’s reputation often lives or dies in the hands of third-party operators it doesn’t directly control.
“The progress achieved during FY25 reflects the dedication of our teams and business partners, whose commitment continues to enhance the customer experience across the Middle East and Africa.”
John Hardy, CEO of Panasonic Middle East & Africa
For context, Panasonic Group reported consolidated net sales of 8.46 trillion yen for the year ending March 2025, and the company has spent recent years reorganizing under a holding structure while leaning harder into B2B and energy. Its consumer presence in some Western markets has been patchy, which makes regions like the Middle East and Africa — where the brand still carries real weight — worth protecting.
The catch: none of this arrives with hard numbers on repair times, satisfaction scores, or concrete FY26 targets, so it reads more as a statement of intent than a measurable commitment. Still, the message is clear enough. In a market racing to the bottom on price, Panasonic would rather compete on what happens after the sale.
