Japanese electronics and home appliances major Panasonic on Sunday said it expects to nearly double its sales in the domestic market next year.

“This year we expect the turnover to be Rs 5,500 crore (around $1.1 billion). Next year we should be a $2-billion company here,” Panasonic India President Mr Daizo Ito told PTI here.

Globally, Panasonic had consolidated net sales of $105 billion in the year ended March 2011, when its India business reported revenue of Rs 3,200 crore.

Panasonic manufactures and markets home appliances, television sets, health and beauty products, dry-cell batteries, carbon rods, office automation, telecom products, computers, projectors and security systems through different entities in the domestic market now.

At present, the company claims 8.5 per cent market share in air conditioners space, around 8 per cent in the LCD and LED television segment and 50 percent in the plasma TV category.

Next year, it is looking at increasing the AC market share to 12 per cent, LCD and LED TVs to 18 per cent and plasma to about 60 per cent.

The company is targeting the domestic markets to contribute about 5 per cent of its global sales by 2015 with an expected turnover of Rs 25,000 crore, Mr Ito said.

Panasonic is setting up a manufacturing facility at Jhajjar in Haryana which is expected to be operational by next November, Mr Ito said, adding that another manufacturing unit may come up by 2015.

Mr Ito further said the company plans to export some of its appliances manufactured in the country to the Middle East and Africa. “Of the total sales in India, 10 per cent we will try to make from exports,” he said.

Panasonic has committed to invest $200 million over a five-year period in India to roll out a range of products, including ACs and washing machines.

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