“Competition Is Always There.

With Vincent Chew as Managing Director, Pensonic has become Malaysia’s biggest local electrical home appliances manufacturer and distributor.

- Oliver Featherston

Pensonic is one of those true small business success stories. The Malaysian electrical home appliances distributor started life as a small store in the city of Penang in 1965, run by company founder Dato’ Seri Chew Weng Khak. It started to sell its own brand of appliances in 1982, and today stands tall as Malaysia’s leading local electrical home appliances manufacturer and distributor, now reaching across South-East Asia and as far as the Middle East.

The founder’s son, Vincent Chew, is now Managing Director of Pensonic, labouring to nurture the brand his father created. But it’s no longer the same world that Pensonic was born in; challenges such as smart appliances, online retail and brand globalisation means the company has to evolve.

“There is an influx of foreign brands, especially from China,” says Vincent. “Of course, competition is always there. It’s just that it’s growing stronger.” To keep itself competitive, Vincent is ensuring Pensonic’s focus is squarely on its customers. “In the electrical appliances industry,” he says, “after-sales is very important, so we’re always trying to clearly differentiate ourselves via better after-sales customer care.”