Panasonic Corporation 

formerly known as Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. is a

Japanese multinational electronic consumer corporation headquartered in Kadoma Osaka Japan. Its
main business is in electronics manufacturing and it produces products under a variety of names
including Panasonic and technics.

Since its founding in 1918, it has grown to become the largest Japanese electronics producer. In
addition to electronics, Panasonic offers non-electronic products and services such as home
renovation services. Panasonic was ranked the 89th-largest company in the world in 2009 by the
Forbes Global 2000 and is among the World Wide top 20 semi-conductors leader.

Name
For 90 years since establishment, the name of the company was always topped with ("Matsushita").
The company's name before 1 October 2008 had been "Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.", used
since 1935.

In 1927, the company founder adopted a brand name "National" for a new lamp product, knowing
"national" meant "of or relating to a people, a nation. In 1955, the company labelled its export audio
speakers and lamps "PanaSonic", which was the first time it used its "Panasonic" brand name. The
company began to use a brand name "Technics" in 1965. The use of multiple brands lasted for some
decades.

In May 2003, the company put "Panasonic" as its global brand, and set its global brand slogan,
"Panasonic ideas for life. The company began to unify its brands to "Panasonic" and, by March 2004
replaced "National" for products and outdoor signboards, except for those in Japan

On January 10, 2008, the company announced that it would change its name to "Panasonic
Corporation" (effective on October 1, 2008) and phase out the brand "National" in Japan, replacing it
with the global brand "Panasonic" (by March 2010). The name change was approved at a
shareholders' meeting on June 26, 2008 after consultation with the Matsushita family.
Environmental record
Panasonic is ranked on 6th place out of 18 in Greenpeace’s Guide to Greener Electronics (company
shares 6th place with its competitors Motorola and Sony). The company mainly gains its points for the
voluntary take-back of its products, in particular for launching the first programme for the take-back of
TVs in a non-OECD country. Despite this, it is still weakest on the criteria relating to e-waste and
recycling and scores best on the chemicals and energy criteria. 

The company is aiming to discontinue use of PVC in internal wiring of new products globally by March
2011.  It is also planning to eliminate the use of PVC in notebooks by the end of 2011 globally. All new
models of mobile phones and computers should be free of BFRs by 2011, but there is no commitment
to eliminate BFRs and PVC from Panasonic’s whole product portfolio. 

Panasonic gets full marks in the Greenpeace’s ranking for reporting that 100% of new models of TVs
meet the latest ES requirement, and most models (nearly 84%) exceed the standby mode
requirement by 70% or more. 

History
Panasonic was founded in 1918 by Konosuke Matsushita first selling duplex lamp sockets. In 1927, it
produced a bicycle lamp, the first product it marketed under the brand name National. It operated
factories in Japan and other parts of Asia through the end of World War II,
producing electrical components and appliances such as light fixtures, motors, and electric irons.

After World War II, Panasonic regrouped and began to supply the post war boom in Japan with radios
and appliances, as well as bicycles. Matsushita's brother-in-law, Toshio Iue founded Sanyo as a
subcontractor for components after WWII. Sanyo grew to become a competitor to Panasonic.

In 1961, Konosuke Matsushita traveled to the United States and met with American dealers.

Panasonic began producing television sets for the U.S. market under the Panasonic brand name, and
expanded the use of the brand to Europe in 1979.

The company used the National trademark outside of North America during the 1950s through the
1970s. (The trademark could not be used probably due to discriminatory application of trademark laws
where brands like General Motors were registrable.) It sold televisions, hi-fidelity stereo receivers,
multi-bandshortwave radios, and marine radio direction finders, often exported to North America
under various U.S. brand names. The company also developed a line of home appliances such
as rice cookers for the Japanese and Asian markets. Rapid growth resulted in the company opening
manufacturing plants around the world. National/Panasonic quickly developed a reputation for well-
made, reliable products.
The company debuted a hi-fidelity audio speaker in Japan in 1965 with the brand Technics. This line
of high quality stereo components became worldwide favorites. The most famous product still made
today is the SL-1200 record player, known for its high performance, precision, and durability.
Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, Panasonic continued to produce high-quality specialized
electronics for niche markets such as shortwave radios, as well as developing a successful line of
stereo receivers, CD players, and other components.

Since 2004, Toyota has used Panasonic batteries for its Toyota Prius, an environmentally friendly car
made in Japan.

On January 19, 2006 Panasonic announced that, starting in February, it will stop producing analog
televisions (then 30% of its total TV business) to concentrate on digital TVs.

On November 3, 2008 Panasonic and Sanyo were in talks, resulting in the eventual acquisition

of Sanyo. The merger was completed in December 2009, and resulted in a mega-corporation with
revenues over ¥11.2 trillion (around $110 billion). As part of what will be Japan's biggest electronics
company, the Sanyo brand and most of the employees will be retained as a subsidiary.

In November 1999, the Japan Times reported that Panasonic planned to develop a "next

generation first aid kit" called the Electronic Health Checker. At the time, the target market was said to
be elderly people, especially those living in rural areas where medical help might not be immediately
available, so it was planned that the kit would include support for telemedicine. The kits were then in
the testing stage, with plans for eventual overseas distribution, to include the United States.

In recent years the company has been involved with the development of high-density optical disc
standards intended to eventually replace the DVD and the SD memory card.

On July 29, 2010 Panasonic reached an agreement to acquire the remaining shares of Panasonic
Electric Works and Sanyo shares for $9.4 billion

Brand names
Panasonic produces electronic products under a variety of names, including:

 Panasonic (home appliances, personal electronics, audio/video equipment, microchips,

automotive components)
 Technics (music equipment like headphones and turntables, overlaps with Panasonic
branded products in some audio categories)
 Sanyo became a subsidiary of Panasonic on December 21, 2009.