News
HERNDON, VA – Dr. Robert C. Pfahl Jr., vice president of global operations for iNEMI, received an Electronics Goes Green 2008+ award in Berlin last month.
Pfahl received the award “for his commitment to environmental protection and inspiring ideas concerning sustainable development in technology and business solutions.”
Prior to joining iNEMI in 2002, Pfahl was director of international and environmental research and development for Motorola Labs.
Under the program, consumers can drop off Panasonic products free of charge. Panasonic also will work jointly with public and private recyclers, communities, governments, charities and other organizations.
The venture will cover more than 160 recycling drop-off locations in 10 states, and is slated to expand to all 50 states, with hundreds more sites, over the next three years.
In a press statement, Recycling Group manager Richard Vernam, said, "The program will help to move end-of-life consumer electronics out of the common waste stream and into a separate and environmentally responsible recycling stream."
"The focus of Panasonic's new program will be on consumer convenience and environmentally sound recycling," said Yoshi Yamada, Chairman and CEO of Panasonic Corporation of North America. "The new national program both gives life to our customers' recycling expectations and embodies our company's commitment to responsible product lifecycle management."
The move might also signal a larger emphasis on designing products that are easy to break down and reuse.
A deal for the money-losing consumer electronics maker is hoped to be struck by year-end.
The bid price was not disclosed, but local reports pegged it in the range of $288 million to $324 million. If correct, that marks up to a 43% drop from a bid submitted last year by a group led by Videocon Industries, which creditors rejected as too low.
Creditors own 97.5% of Daewoo.
Worldwide equipment production will slow from a 6.8% rate in 2007 to a 3.2% pace this year, according to the research firm. A further deceleration will take growth rates to 2.7% next year before rebounding to 9.6% in 2010.
China is expected to achieve a solid 9.6% gain this year. Even so, that pales before the 19.8% burst chalked up during 2007, says Henderson.
During the past few years, the total number of handset subscribers has mushroomed as prices have plunged to meet market requirements in developing countries. But a dwindling unserved market, along with a poor economic environment during 2009, is likely to result in a drop in new subscribers, the company predicts.
Handset shipments are slated to decelerate sharply, as the economic environment encourages cellphone owners to postpone the purchase of upgraded handsets. Shipment growth is predicted to decelerate from 15.1% in 2007 through 7.8% in 2008 to only 3.9% next year.
And given the increased emphasis on developing markets, handset revenues are forecast to be stagnant next year. The ongoing financial crisis is expected to be resolved by 2010. Rejuvenated economic growth and a new replacement cycle will create a 9.5% unit gain that year.
