A consumer in Hangzhou expressed frustration after paying for goods only to find the store gone, especially surprising given its location within a shopping mall.
On the sixth floor of the Hangzhou Center mall, the shutters of the Panasonic specialty store are tightly locked. A notice posted at the entrance announces a "sudden closure," leaving what was once an appliance showroom deserted. Customers who made advance payments now face the predicament of losing both their money and the promised goods.
One Hangzhou consumer stated that the Panasonic store at Hangzhou Center had absconded with their money, and the mall had been evasive and refused to address the issue. What has caused the most outrage is that the store had long used promotional materials labeling it as the "Panasonic Hangzhou Center Direct Store," leveraging the credibility of a brand-operated outlet to gain customer trust. Many paid the full amount upfront, only to end up with no appliances and a vanished storefront.
To verify the full scope of the incident, inquiries were made to the Hangzhou Center mall's customer service. The representative responded that the store had closed without warning in June, and the mall itself was unaware of the reason for the closure. They added that relevant personnel from the Panasonic brand had come to handle the matter, and to their knowledge, shipments had begun for some customers' orders.
Regarding the consumer rights dispute triggered by this store closure, Panasonic's official response was sought. The company stated that consumers choose Panasonic products based on trust in the brand. However, the involved dealer is an independently operating entity responsible for its own profits and losses, and Panasonic has no legal obligation for joint compensation. Nevertheless, the company expressed a desire to make every effort to help resolve the issue properly. Panasonic has immediately established a dedicated task force to understand the specific situation and is urging the dealer to actively discuss solutions. The company emphasized that it has always managed its dealers in accordance with laws and company regulations and will continue to strengthen this management.
It is noteworthy that in recent years, Panasonic stores have been repeatedly exposed for abruptly closing and disappearing. Simultaneously, Panasonic's manufacturing and distribution system in China has been undergoing significant contraction, with several subsidiaries successively deregistered. With stores frequently becoming unreachable and companies shutting down, what exactly is happening to Panasonic's footprint in China?
Store Abruptly Closes and Disappears, Panasonic Responds: Company Has Intervened
Recently, the Panasonic specialty store located on the sixth floor of Hangzhou Center mall suddenly closed, leaving multiple consumers who had made advance payments facing difficulties in retrieving their goods and seeking redress.
After the incident, the mall promptly posted a notice at the original store location, attempting to clarify its own liability boundaries. The notice stated that the "Panasonic" store had suddenly ceased operations on June 16. Stressing a responsible attitude towards customers and aiming to protect their legitimate rights, the mall clarified that the "Panasonic" store had a landlord-tenant relationship with Hangzhou Center mall and was independently operated by Hangzhou Hao'an Trading Co., Ltd. Customers with unresolved consumer disputes were advised to contact the store using provided information.
However, consumers were not satisfied with this response. One Hangzhou consumer reported that the store had previously advertised itself as a Panasonic Hangzhou Center direct store. Having paid based on the credibility of a brand-operated outlet, they had not received the ordered appliances, and the store was now unreachable. Multiple communications with the mall had been met with evasive responses. The consumer questioned whether the mall bore any responsibility and how it had approved the store's qualifications for tenancy.
Corporate records show that Hangzhou Hao'an Trading Co., Ltd.'s legal representative is Qiao Jialong. The company was established in 2009, is located in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, and primarily operates in the retail sector with a registered capital of 1 million RMB. Multiple attempts to contact Qiao Jialong by phone since the incident occurred have gone unanswered.
To verify the details, Hangzhou Center mall's customer service was contacted. The representative confirmed the store closed without warning on June 16, and the mall was also unaware of the reason. They described it as a sudden closure where the business did not inform the mall, and the owner simply shut down the store.
When asked whether the mall had verified the store's authorization credentials during the tenancy approval process or checked its use of "direct store" in external promotions, the staff avoided a direct answer. They only stated that Panasonic had recently sent relevant personnel who met with some of the affected consumers, exchanged contact information, and that a small number of customers had reportedly received goods shipped directly from a manufacturer in the Xiasha area.
Regarding the consumer rights issue caused by the sudden store closure, Panasonic's official customer service also stated they were "not aware of the specific reason for the closure." They added, "We are already aware of the situation. The company has intervened and is communicating with the agent at Hangzhou Center. Once a solution is reached, consumers will be notified promptly."
When further asked to confirm if the store was an "agent" and not a "direct store," the customer service representative affirmed this. However, this raises further questions: Was Panasonic aware that an agent was misusing the direct store designation for sales? What measures, if any, has the company taken to address this long-standing issue? In response, the customer service representative only reiterated, "We sincerely apologize. The company is already involved in this situation and is following up on the handling."
Store "Disappearances" Continue, Company "Deregistrations" Persist
In fact, the sudden closure of the Panasonic store in Hangzhou Center mall is just the tip of the iceberg.
In recent years, Panasonic stores have been repeatedly reported for abrupt closures. In Hangzhou alone, besides the Hangzhou Center store, stores such as the Linping Jiangnan Home Furnishings store, the Panasonic West Lake store, and the Panasonic exhibition hall in Hangzhou B&Q have also closed. Some of these, like the Hangzhou Center store, have faced consumer complaints of "absconding with money." Furthermore, this wave of closures has involved cities like Tianjin and Beijing, leading to a continuous stream of consumer rights disputes.
However, the successive "implosions" at the channel level are only the surface of the problem; a crisis of trust is also brewing among consumers. On the Black Cat consumer complaint platform, searching with the keyword "Panasonic" yields over 8,000 related complaints, with "store disappearance," "product quality," and "evasive after-sales service" being frequent tags.
More notably, it's not just the offline store network that is shrinking; Panasonic's production, manufacturing, and distribution system in China is also undergoing a concentrated "retreat." In recent years, Panasonic has successively deregistered several subsidiaries in China, continuously compressing its home appliance manufacturing and offline distribution business footprint.
Specific cases include: Panasonic Storage Battery (Shenyang) Co., Ltd., which primarily produced lead-acid batteries, completely halted production in May 2023 and completed deregistration and liquidation in 2024, formally exiting the Chinese market; in December 2023, Panasonic Energy (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. was officially deregistered; in October 2024, the South China air conditioning sales branch, Panasonic Appliances (China) Co., Ltd. Guangzhou Air Conditioning Branch, was deregistered; and in February 2026, Shanghai Panasonic Microwave Oven Co., Ltd., with over thirty years of production history, completed its deregistration.
Additionally, according to statistics from some independent media bloggers, Panasonic has deregistered approximately 26 subsidiaries in China. These also include Panasonic Lighting Equipment (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., Beijing Panasonic Seiko Co., Ltd., Panasonic R&D Center (China) Co., Ltd., Hangzhou Panasonic Motor (Home Appliances) Co., Ltd., and Shanghai Panasonic Plasma Display Co., Ltd., spanning sectors such as home appliances, commercial equipment, semiconductors, and electronic materials.
From store disappearances and implosions to the accumulation of online complaints, and the dense deregistration of domestic subsidiaries, what Panasonic faces in the Chinese market may be a systemic crisis concerning the brand's very foundation.
In fact, as early as 2024, rumors were rampant that some Panasonic businesses would exit the Chinese market. At that time, Panasonic issued a statement refuting the rumors, stating, "Regarding the online rumors about 'Panasonic compressors withdrawing from the Chinese market,' we hereby solemnly declare: Panasonic compressors have not planned and will not withdraw from the Chinese market. As a responsible enterprise, we are well aware of the importance and potential of the Chinese market. We will continue to increase investment in the Chinese market, promote technological innovation and product upgrades to meet the growing demands of consumers."
However, two years later, with several subsidiaries having completed deregistration, rumors of "Panasonic exiting the Chinese market" have resurfaced. In response, Panasonic's official customer service stated, "We currently do not have this information. After-sales services are all operating normally."
Profits Nearly Halved, Global Layoffs Exceed 12,000
Panasonic Holdings Corporation released its financial results for the third quarter of fiscal year 2025 (ending December 31, 2025) in February this year. The data shows that for the period April–December 2025 (the first nine months), Panasonic Holdings' consolidated sales reached 6.4039 trillion yen, a slight decrease of 1% year-on-year. Net profit attributable to owners of the parent company was 288.4 billion yen, a decrease of 57% compared to the previous year.
Reports indicate that the core performance fluctuations primarily stem from two major factors: first, the completion of the equity transfer of Panasonic Automotive Systems Company (PAS) in December 2024, which shifted this business to equity method accounting and removed it from the consolidated scope, causing a阶段性 impact on revenue scale; second, price adjustments for automotive battery products due to falling raw material prices partially offset the benefits brought by sales volume growth.
Furthermore, Panasonic Holdings continues to intensify structural reforms. The company announced an increase in its global structural layoff scale from 10,000 to 12,000 employees, maintaining a focus on AI strategic transformation. The company's CFO, Kazuhiro Tsuga, stated that the additional layoffs would increase reform-related expenses by 30 billion yen, bringing the total to 180 billion yen. Consequently, the net profit forecast for fiscal year 2025 was revised downward to 240 billion yen (a 34% decrease year-on-year), while the full-year sales forecast of 7.7 trillion yen was maintained.
Chen Jingjing, founder of Jingjie Brand Consulting, commented that the business model for home appliance channels is indeed changing. The rapid development of online channels, live-stream e-commerce, and brand-operated direct e-commerce has generally increased operating pressure on traditional offline stores, a challenge faced by the entire durable consumer goods industry. Simultaneously, the authorized dealership model inherently involves a separation between the brand and the operating entity. Although stores are operated by independent legal persons, consumers tend to hold the brand accountable. Therefore, brands should not only strengthen dealer risk management but also improve mechanisms for managing advance payments, handling store closures, and ensuring after-sales service continuity. This approach aims to reduce consumer losses while maintaining long-term brand reputation.
Discussing the risks and challenges Panasonic faces in the Chinese market, Chen Jingjing noted that the challenges mainly stem from changes in competitive logic. In the past, international brands primarily relied on brand and quality advantages to win the market. With the continuous improvement of China's manufacturing capabilities and industrial chain level, manufacturing advantage is no longer a differentiated competitive barrier. Today, competition has shifted more towards smart ecosystems, localized innovation, channel operations, and consumer experience.
She further analyzed that in recent years, the group has持续推进 global business restructuring, allocating more resources to growth businesses like automotive batteries, energy solutions, and industrial automation, while consumer appliances increasingly play the role of mature, cash-flow generating businesses. The speed of product iteration in the Chinese market leads the world. To maintain future competitiveness, aspects such as product definition, digital marketing, channel operations, and service systems all need to respond quickly to local market demands. Additionally, as consumer rights protection awareness continues to grow, brand competition extends from products and channels to consumer trust management. How to完善 channel governance, after-sales service, and risk management systems will become a crucial component of the long-term competitiveness of international brands.
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