Archive notice: This article was originally published on July 9, 2007. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
In the first twelve months, SANYO Component Europe focused primarily on the important German market and concentrated its sales activities on specialist electrical stores, specialist photography shops and some specialist electronics retailers as well as sales over the Internet. The company has now expanded distribution of ,eneloop’ to the entire European market – it is now available in around 8,000 stores. In addition, SANYO Component Europe has extended its distribution network to the toy sector through cooperation with Revell. Discussions about further cooperation are planned at this year’s IFA in Berlin, where the company will receive partners in its business lounge in Hall 26, Room 301. For next year, SANYO Component Europe plans to double the number of ,eneloop’ batteries sold and to reach around ten percent of the entire European rechargeable battery market in five years.
The reason for this success lies in the special characteristics of ,eneloop’. It is the first rechargeable battery to combine the advantages of a conventional disposable battery with those of a rechargeable battery. Thanks to its extremely low self-discharge, ,eneloop’ comes to market charged and is ready for immediate use. A longer storage period is also no longer a problem: after one year, ,eneloop’ still has around 85 percent of its charge and can go through around 1,000 charging cycles before it has to be replaced.
This makes the rechargeable battery an environmentally friendly alternative to the conventional disposable battery. ,eneloop’ is therefore an important cornerstone of SANYO’s ‘Think GAIA’ corporate philosophy. With this vision, the company has set itself the goal of developing environmentally friendly products and thereby leaving behind a planet worth living on for posterity.
“Even for an established rechargeable battery manufacturer like SANYO, which has been in business for many years, the reaction from consumers and retailers was surprisingly positive,” says George Delis, European Sales and Marketing Manager of SANYO Component Europe GmbH. “In my 15-year sales experience at SANYO, I have never seen such great demand for a new battery as with ,eneloop’.”
