SINGAPORE — With digital devices an integral part of many people’s professional lives, accidental damage to a laptop or tablet can be more than a mild convenience: It can prevent employees from carrying out their duties, especially when they are away from the office. Against that backdrop, Panasonic is hoping to boost sales in Asia of its rugged devices.

“We want to tell potential users that there is such a device, that can be used outside, can improve their efficiency and productivity and also reduce their cost at the end of the day,” said Mr Satoshi Mizobata, Director of Panasonic’s Toughbook Asia Pacific Group, ahead of the launch today of two new devices in Singapore, the Toughpad FZ-M1 fully-rugged 7” Windows 8.1 Pro tablet and the Toughbook CF-LX3 14” business laptop.

Even as the personal computer (PC) market slows — worldwide PC shipments dropped 6.9 per cent last month compared to December 2012 — Mr Mizobata is not deterred, saying that Panasonic believes demand is increasing, especially for mobility usage.

To back that view, Mr Mizobata cited a Gartner forecast that said IT spending will grow 3.1 per cent this year to US$3.8 trillion (S$4.85 trillion) compared to last year and device spending is estimated to rise 4.3 per cent to US$697 billion.

At the same time, the mobile workforce is expected to grow. An IDC report estimates that it will expand by 30 per cent from 2010 to hit 1.3 billion, or 37.2 per cent of the global workforce by next year. In the Asia-Pacific region alone, the IDC expects the number to increase by 39.3 per cent.

These numbers give Panasonic confidence that demand for protected devices will expand, especially in Asia which currently only commands 2 per cent of its global rugged device sales. Part of their plans involve shifting their focus away from their major markets, such as North America, Japan and Europe, where growth opportunities may be limited. Instead, regions like South-east Asia may have more potential, said Mr Mizobata.

Key to the company’s strategy in this market is to tap industries where devices may be exposed to greater risk because employees are often working outside, such as field services, utility services and logistics, he said.

But rugged devices, with their added protection, do not come cheap, and Panasonic will need to make a convincing case to persuade businesses that the additional cost over a standard laptop or tablet is worth it.

“At the end of the day, what the customer needs is a reduction in total cost,” said Mr Mizobata. “We have to talk about the total cost of ownership, so if the customer uses it for three or four years, sometimes five years, in total, how much money do they have to spend? If they choose a consumer device, the initial cost might be lower, but the cover has to be changed every three months, maybe the connectors need to be changed ... So we have to explain to the customer that in the long run they can save money.”

“Some of our customers have used our computers for seven years,” he said, adding that it is hard to quantify the cost benefits of having a device that continues operating after an accident which other devices might not.

The Panasonic Toughbook CF-LX3 notebook is available now from S$2,499. The Toughpad FZ-M1 tablet will be available March this year from S$2,600.