• New York Times, Tuesday, July 13, 2010 11:17 AM

Whether you're looking for a humongous 3-D television or a device to trim your ear fuzz, Panasonic has you covered. But, Hiroko Tabuchi reports from Tokyo, analysts are wondering whether Panasonic should really be trying to market all things to all consumers?

Granted, it's not the only Japanese manufacturer suffering from ADD (see Sony, Sharp, Fujitsu, Toshiba, NEC, Casio, Hitachi and Kyocera) but the affliction distracts managers and cedes key categories to more focused marketers such as Samsung and Apple, critics say.

"We probably sell tens of thousands of products; we've never counted," acknowledges Panasonic spokesman Akira Kadota. "Perhaps even a million?"

Still, the company is unapologetic about its failure to achieve "sentaku to shuchu," or "choose and focus," a corporate refrain heard often in Japan. "It's true our business spans a wide area," president Fumio Ohtsubo tells Tabuchi. "But it's not as difficult as you might think." He says the company has the advantage in "technological potential and breadth" and will focus on increasing overseas sales instead of paring its offerings, which also includes massage chairs, solar panels and four varieties of nose-hair trimmers.

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