Best Wishes for the New Year.

During 2023, we witnessed gradual shifts to new styles in people's lives and society at large since the pandemic. There has been an increasing interest among people in indoor air quality, and they are giving higher priority to social challenges such as global warming and the extension of healthy life expectancy. The Heating & Ventilation A/C Company, Panasonic Corporation, has been proactive in restructuring organizations and making investments for growth aimed at integrating air quality and air conditioning technologies and services to create new solutions for the aforementioned challenges.
We will continue to uphold our social responsibility to realize a living environment with fewer viruses, where people can breathe with peace of mind, fostering a decarbonized society and promoting wellbeing with reduced stress. In addition, we launched initiatives to achieve a new medium- to long-term vision of extending the healthy life expectancy of people and our planet in fiscal 2023.

Meanwhile, since its inception, the Heating & Ventilation A/C Company has targeted the residential and light commercial markets, promoting a shift from product sales to the solution business, and accelerated initiatives during 2023.

In the residential field, we are increasingly delivering the Whole Housing Air Conditioning System with Energy Recovery Ventilation (withair) in Japan, which incorporate the functions of air conditioning and purification in response to the spread of ZEH*. Regarding overseas operations, we are expanding the sales of Six Constant Air Circulation Systems, which comprise air and humidity conditioning, disinfection, and deodorization functions. This expansion caters to the demand for a healthy environment and elderly care, particularly in China. In the light commercial market, we have achieved energy savings for commercial air conditioners to meet an increasing need by leveraging cloud computing technology. The integration of air quality and air conditioning businesses is on the verge of flourishing.

In terms of the water business, which will be increasingly important in the future, we have newly established the Water System Solutions Business Unit. While the Eco Cute heat pump water heater mainly targets the Japanese market, we aim to promote its sales abroad amid the growing demand for decarbonization. In environmentally advanced Europe, we are intensifying our efforts to expand the business further, such as by acquiring a commercial hydronic air conditioning business, with the air-to-water heat pumps (A2W) at the core. Furthermore, we will place a stronger emphasis on solutions that utilize water in addition to air, including the penetration of well water purification systems in Indonesia.

Our top priority is to provide the best-suited solutions combined with IoT tailored to customer needs. Therefore, we will refine our products and services by meeting more customers than ever and listening to their voices. We aim to live up to your expectations.

* ZEH: Net zero energy house

Heating & Ventilation A/C Company, Panasonic Corporation
President Masaharu Michiura