Panasonic Computer Product Solutions Partners with Brother to Further Enhance Enterprise Mobility Solutions Portfolio
BRACKNELL, UK. 17 March 2015
Panasonic Computer Products Solutions, a business unit of Panasonic System Communications Company Europe (PSCEU) has announced it will form a relationship with Brother International Europe Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Brother Industries Limited, to offer field-tested, fully-integrated mobility printing solutions to specially selected vertical markets.
Panasonic Computer products Solutions’ Toughbook and Toughpad rugged computing devices are widely used by police, military, fire and emergency personnel and other mission-critical agencies across Europe, where high performance, reliability and connectivity are paramount.
Under the agreement, Brother International Europe, a premier provider of printing products for mobile workforces, will supply their best selling ‘PJ600 Series’, full-page mobile thermal printers for emergency services in vehicle use. The agreement also covers the ‘RJ Series’ of rugged mobile printers, MW Series of cut sheet A6/A7 printers, and finally TD2000 Series receipt and label printers for the Retail space. The Brother range will be fully tested and approved for use with Panasonic Toughbook and Toughpad devices.
The addition of Brother Mobile Solutions to Panasonic’s third-party mobility solutions portfolio, presented under the ProServices offering will provide decision-makers with a compelling range of end-to-end mobility packages; representing best-in-class technology for mobile field workers and easing pressure on IT decision-makers tasked with selecting devices that integrate and perform well together.
“The use of mobile technology has gained significant momentum in the public safety, field service and insurance sectors as industry professionals seek products and solutions to help become more productive, lower operating costs, gain a competitive advantage and achieve system-wide efficiencies,” said Ian Metcalfe, Commercial Director for Brother International Europe Ltd. “This relationship with Panasonic helps ensure that mobile computing and print solutions will integrate seamlessly in the field to meet the specific challenges of these rapidly evolving markets.”
“Today’s field workforce is becoming increasingly mobile and has greater expectations in terms of mobile technologies”, said Robert Blowers, Assistant General Manager of Panasonic Computer Products Europe. “Our ongoing relationship with Brother International Europe means we can offer a more diverse mobility solution to our end-users, giving them peace of mind that their Toughbook or Toughpad device and their print solution will be fully compatible and reliable in their field environment.”
Panasonic will sell pre-configured Brother mobile printer solutions within its existing line of distribution channels in Europe. Initial vertical markets will include emergency services and retail.
About Panasonic System Communications Company Europe (PSCEU)
PSCEU is the European branch of Panasonic Systems Communications Company, the global B2B division of Panasonic. PSCEU’s goal is to improve the working lives of business professionals and help their organisations’ efficiency and performance. We help organisations capture, compute and communicate all sorts of information: image, voice, and textual data. Products include PBX telephone switches, document printers, professional cameras, projectors, large visual displays, rugged mobile PCs and fire alarms solutions. With around 400 staff, engineering design expertise, global project management capability and a large European partner network, PSCEU offers unrivalled capability in its markets.
PSCEU is made up of four product categories:
- Communication Solutions, including professional scanners, multifunctional printers, telephony systems and SIP terminal devices.
- Visual System Solutions, including projectors and professional displays. Panasonic offers the widest range of Visual products, and leads the European projector market with 28 % revenue share. (Futuresource B2B market tracking, Q1/2014)
- Professional Camera Solutions, including Broadcast & ProAV products, security, fire alarm systems and industrial medical vision (IMV) technology. Panasonic is one of the top two professional camera vendors in Europe.
- Computer Product Solutions helps mobile workers improve productivity with its range of Toughbook rugged notebooks, Toughpad business tablets and electronic point of sales (EPOS) systems. As European market leaders, Panasonic Toughbook had a 66.4% revenue share of sales of rugged and durable notebooks and Panasonic Toughpad held a 50.4% revenue share of sales of rugged business tablets in 2013 (VDC Research, March 2014).
About Brother Mobile Solutions
Brother Mobile Solutions, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Brother International Corporation which had revenues of approximately $1.4 billion in fiscal year 2011. Brother International Corporation and its subsidiaries employ over 1,100 people in the Americas. For more information, visit www.brothermobilesolutions.com.
