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formerly between 1935 and 2008 and the first incarnation of between 2008 and 2022, is a major Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation, headquartered in Kadoma,
Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...
. It was founded by Kōnosuke Matsushita in 1918 as a
lightbulb socket A lightbulb socket, lightbulb holder, light socket, lamp socket or lamp holder is a device which mechanically supports and provides electrical connections for a compatible electric lamp base. Sockets allow lamps to be safely and conveniently re ...
manufacturer. In addition to
consumer electronics Consumer electronics or home electronics are electronic ( analog or digital) equipment intended for everyday use, typically in private homes. Consumer electronics include devices used for entertainment, communications and recreation. Usuall ...
, of which it was the world's largest maker in the late 20th century, Panasonic offers a wide range of products and services, including
rechargeable batteries A rechargeable battery, storage battery, or secondary cell (formally a type of energy accumulator), is a type of electrical battery which can be charged, discharged into a load, and recharged many times, as opposed to a disposable or prima ...
, automotive and avionic systems, industrial systems, as well as home renovation and construction. Panasonic has a primary listing on the
Tokyo Stock Exchange The , abbreviated as Tosho () or TSE/TYO, is a stock exchange located in Tokyo, Japan. It is the third largest stock exchange in the world by aggregate market capitalization of its listed companies, and the largest in Asia. It had 2,292 listed ...
and is a constituent of the
Nikkei 225 The Nikkei 225, or , more commonly called the ''Nikkei'' or the ''Nikkei index'' (), is a stock market index for the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE). It has been calculated daily by the '' Nihon Keizai Shimbun'' (''The Nikkei'') newspaper since 19 ...
and TOPIX 100 indices. It has a secondary listing on the
Nagoya Stock Exchange Nagoya Stock Exchange (名古屋証券取引所 ''Nagoya Shōken Torihikijo'', NSE) is a stock trading market in Nagoya, Japan. It is Japan's second largest exchange, behind the Tokyo Stock Exchange. History The Nagoya Stock Exchange (NSE) is t ...
.


Corporate name

From 1935 to October 1, 2008, the company's corporate name was "Matsushita Electric Industrial Co." (MEI). On January 10, 2008, the company announced that it would change its name to "Panasonic Corporation", in effect on October 1, 2008, to conform with its global brand name "Panasonic". The name change was approved at the shareholders' meeting on June 26, 2008, after consultation with the Matsushita family. In 2022, Panasonic announced a reorganization plan which split the company into Panasonic Holdings Corporation (the former Panasonic Corporation) and conversion of its divisions into subsidiaries; the Lifestyle Updates Business Division being the division that took the Panasonic Corporation name after the reorganization. The reorganization took effect on April 1, 2022.


Brand names

Panasonic Corporation sells virtually all of its products and services worldwide under the
Panasonic formerly between 1935 and 2008 and the first incarnation of between 2008 and 2022, is a major Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation, headquartered in Kadoma, Osaka. It was founded by Kōnosuke Matsushita in 1918 as a lightbulb ...
brand, having phased out the
Sanyo , stylized as SANYO, is a Japanese electronics company and formerly a member of the ''Fortune'' Global 500 whose headquarters was located in Moriguchi, Osaka prefecture, Japan. Sanyo had over 230 subsidiaries and affiliates, and was founded by ...
brand in the first quarter of 2012. The company has sold products under a number of other brand names during its history. In 1927, Matsushita adopted the brand name for a new lamp product. In 1955, the company began branding audio speakers and lamps for markets outside Japan as "''PanaSonic''", which was the first time it used the "Panasonic" brand name. The company began to use the brand name in 1965 for audio equipment. The use of multiple brands lasted for some decades. While "National" had been the premier brand on most Matsushita products, including audio and video, "National" and "Panasonic" were combined in 1988 as National Panasonic after the worldwide success of the
Panasonic formerly between 1935 and 2008 and the first incarnation of between 2008 and 2022, is a major Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation, headquartered in Kadoma, Osaka. It was founded by Kōnosuke Matsushita in 1918 as a lightbulb ...
name. In May 2003, the company announced that "Panasonic" would become its global brand, and launched the global tagline "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. In January 2008, the company announced that it would phase out the brand "National" in Japan, replacing it with the global brand "Panasonic" by March 2010. In September 2013, the company announced a revision of the decade-old tagline to better illustrate the company vision: "A Better Life, A Better World." Rasonic is a brand name of Shun Hing Electric Works and Engineering Co. Ltd (信興電工工程有限公司), a company that has imported Panasonic and National branded product since Matsushita Electric Industrial era, and has also sold MEI/Panasonic products under the original brand names. In June 1994, Panasonic Shun Hing Industrial Devices Sales (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd. (松下信興機電(香港)有限公司) and Panasonic SH Industrial Sales (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. (松下電器機電(深圳)有限公司) were established by joint venture between Matsushita Electric Industrial and Shun Hing Group respectively, making Rasonic a product brand for MEI and subsequent Panasonic Corporation. In September 2014, Panasonic announced they will revive the Technics brand.


History


20th century

Panasonic, then Matsushita Electric, was founded in 1918 by Kōnosuke Matsushita as a vendor of duplex lamp sockets. In the 1920s, Matsushita began regularly launching products. In 1927, he produced a line of
bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist. B ...
lamps that were the first to be marketed with the '' National'' brand name. During
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, the company operated factories in Japan and other parts of Asia which produced electrical components and appliances such as
light fixtures Light or visible light is electromagnetic radiation that can be perceived by the human eye. Visible light is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400–700 nanometres (nm), corresponding to frequencies of 750–420 terahe ...
,
motor An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power g ...
s, electric irons, wireless equipment and its first
vacuum tube A vacuum tube, electron tube, valve (British usage), or tube (North America), is a device that controls electric current flow in a high vacuum between electrodes to which an electric potential difference has been applied. The type known as ...
s. After the war, the Matsushita group, largely having been split into MEI and MEW by the dissolution imposed by the occupation force, imperfectly regrouped as a ''
Keiretsu A is a set of companies with interlocking business relationships and shareholdings. In the legal sense, it is a type of informal business group that are loosely organized alliances within the social world of Japan's business community. The '' ...
'' 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 was a Japanese inventor and industrialist who founded Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. Prior to the founding of Sanyo, he played an influential role in the growth and development of Matsushita Electric Works, working closely alongside his brother-in-la ...
, founded
Sanyo , stylized as SANYO, is a Japanese electronics company and formerly a member of the ''Fortune'' Global 500 whose headquarters was located in Moriguchi, Osaka prefecture, Japan. Sanyo had over 230 subsidiaries and affiliates, and was founded by ...
as a subcontractor for components after World War II. Sanyo grew to become a competitor to Matsushita, but was later acquired by Panasonic in December 2009. In 1961, Matsushita traveled to the United States and met American dealers. The company 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.Panasonic expands use of Panasonic brand name globally
in April 2003. /* Introduction */ Shahid Kapoor was the brand ambassador for Panasonic India from 2005 to 2010. Now Ranbir Kapoor has taken over along with Katrina Kaif
The company used the National brand outside North America from the 1950s to the 1970s (the trademark could not be used in the United States because it was already in use). The inability to use the National brand name led to the creation of the Panasonic brand in the United States. Over the next several decades, Matsushita released additional products, including black and white TVs (1952), electrical blenders, fridges (1953),
rice cooker A rice cooker or rice steamer is an automated kitchen appliance designed to boil or steam rice. It consists of a heat source, a cooking bowl, and a thermostat. The thermostat measures the temperature of the cooking bowl and controls the hea ...
s (1959), color TVs, and
microwave oven A microwave oven (commonly referred to as a microwave) is an electric oven that heats and cooks food by exposing it to electromagnetic radiation in the microwave frequency range. This induces polar molecules in the food to rotate and produce ...
s (1966). The company debuted a high-fidelity audio speaker in Japan in 1965 with the brand ''Technics''. This line of high quality stereo components became a worldwide favorite, the most famous products being its turntables, such as the
SL-1200 Technics SL-1200 is a series of direct-drive turntables originally manufactured from October 1972 until 2010, and resumed in 2016, by Matsushita Electric (now Panasonic Corporation) under the brand name of Technics. S means "Stereo", L means "P ...
record player, known for its high-performance, precision and durability. Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, Matsushita continued to produce high-quality specialized electronics for niche markets, such as shortwave radios, and developed its successful line of stereo receivers, CD players and other components. In 1968, Matsushita began to make rotary compressors for air conditioners, and, in 1971, it began to make absorption chillers, also for air-conditioning applications. In 1972, Matsushita established its first overseas factory, in Malaysia. In 1973, Matsushita established "Anam National", joint venture with Anam Group in South Korea. In 1983, Matsushita launched the
Panasonic Senior Partner The Senior Partner (stylized as the Sr. Partner) is an IBM PC-compatible portable computer that was introduced by the Panasonic Corporation in 1984. Weighing roughly in its base configuration, the computer came equipped with a cathode-ray tube d ...
, the first fully
IBM PC compatible IBM PC compatible computers are similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT, all from computer giant IBM, that are able to use the same software and expansion cards. Such computers were referred to as PC clones, IBM clones or IBM PC clones ...
Japanese-made computer A year later, Panasonic released the Executive Partner, the first affordable portable computer with a
plasma display A plasma display panel (PDP) is a type of flat panel display that uses small cells containing plasma: ionized gas that responds to electric fields. Plasma televisions were the first large (over 32 inches diagonal) flat panel displays to be rele ...
. Around this time the company also introduced inverter air conditioners. In 1984, Matsushita established the ''Panasoft'' software label, which published software for MSX computers from 1984 to 1989. The company also manufactured MSX computers of their own, such as Panasonic FS-A1. In November 1990, Matsushita agreed to acquire an American media company, MCA Inc., the predecessor of both
Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch–American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...
and
Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...
, for US$6.59 billion. The acquisition was preceded by the takeover of
Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...
by
Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...
, the arch rival of Matsushita. At the time, Matsushita had dominated the home video market with the company's leading position in the electronics market. It had been strengthened by VHS, the de facto standard of consumer
videotape Videotape is magnetic tape used for storing video and usually sound in addition. Information stored can be in the form of either an analog or digital signal. Videotape is used in both video tape recorders (VTRs) and, more commonly, videoca ...
that Matsushita and
JVC JVC (short for Japan Victor Company) is a Japanese brand owned by JVCKenwood corporation. Founded in 1927 as the Victor Talking Machine Company of Japan and later as , the company is best known for introducing Japan's first televisions and for ...
co-introduced. Inspired by Sony's bold quest for Hollywood, Matsushita believed it could become a leader in the film industry as well. However, Matsushita subsequently sold 80% of MCA to
Seagram Company The Seagram Company Ltd. (which traded as Seagram's) was a Canadian multinational conglomerate formerly headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. Originally a distiller of Canadian whisky based in Waterloo, Ontario, it was once (in the 1990s) the lar ...
for US$7 billion in April 1995, demoralized by the high volatility of the film industry. In 1992, Matsushita made the Panasonic FS-A1GT, the last model of the MSX turbo R computer. In 1998, Matsushita sold Anam National to Anam Electronics.


2000 to present

On May 2, 2002, Panasonic Canada marked its 35th anniversary in that country by giving $5 million to help build a "music city" on Toronto's waterfront. In 2005, Matsushita Toshiba Picture Display Co. Ltd. (a joint venture between Matsushita and
Toshiba , commonly known as Toshiba and stylized as TOSHIBA, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Its diversified products and services include power, industrial and social infrastructure systems, ...
created in 2002) stopped production of CRTs at its factory in Horseheads, New York. A year later, in 2006, it stopped production at its Malaysian factory, following heavy losses. In 2007, it bought the venture from Toshiba, eventually ending all production. On January 19, 2006, Matsushita announced that it would stop producing analog televisions (then 30% of its total TV business) from the next month, to concentrate on digital televisions. In 2008, all models of electric shavers from the Panasonic factory were called Panasonic shavers, and they dropped Matsushita and National from their name. In late 2006, Matsushita began talks with Kenwood Corporation to sell and spin off JVC. As of October 1, 2008, JVC and Kenwood merged to create the JVCKenwood Corporation. On November 3, 2008, Panasonic and
Sanyo , stylized as SANYO, is a Japanese electronics company and formerly a member of the ''Fortune'' Global 500 whose headquarters was located in Moriguchi, Osaka prefecture, Japan. Sanyo had over 230 subsidiaries and affiliates, and was founded by ...
announced that they were holding merger talks, which eventually resulted in the acquisition of Sanyo by Panasonic. The merger was completed in December 2009, and resulted in a corporation with revenues of over ¥11.2 trillion (around $110 billion). With the announcement that Pioneer would exit the production of its Kuro plasma HDTV displays, Panasonic purchased many of the patents and incorporated these technologies into its own
plasma display A plasma display panel (PDP) is a type of flat panel display that uses small cells containing plasma: ionized gas that responds to electric fields. Plasma televisions were the first large (over 32 inches diagonal) flat panel displays to be rele ...
s. In April 2011, it was announced that Panasonic would cut its work force by 40,000 by the end of fiscal 2012 in a bid to streamline overlapping operations. The curtailment is about 10 percent of its group work force. In October 2011, Panasonic announced that it was going to trim its money-losing TV business by ceasing production of plasma TVs at its plant in
Amagasaki 270px, Amagasaki Castle 270px, Aerial view of Amagasaki city center 270px, Amagasaki Station is an industrial city located in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 455,555 in 223812 households, and a population ...
, Hyogo Prefecture by March 2012, cutting 1,000 jobs in the process. Also, it sold some of Sanyo's home appliances business to
Haier Haier Group Corporation () is a Chinese multinational home appliances and consumer electronics company headquartered in Qingdao, Shandong. It designs, develops, manufactures and sells products including refrigerators, air conditioners, washin ...
. In January 2012, Panasonic announced that it had struck a deal with Myspace on its new venture, Myspace TV. Myspace TV will allow users to watch live television while chatting with other users on a laptop, tablet or the television itself. With the partnership, Myspace TV will be integrated into Panasonic Viera televisions. On May 11, 2012, Panasonic announced plans to acquire a 76.2% stake in FirePro Systems, an India-based company in infrastructure protection and security solutions such as fire alarm, fire suppression, video surveillance and building management. In April 2012, Panasonic spun off Sanyo DI Solutions, a digital camera OEM. In line with company prediction of a net loss of 765 billion yen, on November 5, 2012, the shares fell to the lowest level since February 1975 to 388 yen. In 2012, the shares plunged 41 per cent. On November 14, 2012, Panasonic said it would cut 10,000 jobs and make further divestments. On May 18, 2013, Panasonic announced that it would invest $US40 million in building a factory in Binh Duong,
Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making ...
, which was completed in 2014. In July 2013, Panasonic agreed to acquire a 13% stake in the Slovenian household appliance manufacturer Gorenje for around €10 million. In July 2013, Panasonic signed an agreement with
Sony Corporation , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...
to develop Archival Disc, described as an
optical disc In computing and optical disc recording technologies, an optical disc (OD) is a flat, usually circular disc that encodes binary data ( bits) in the form of pits and lands on a special material, often aluminum, on one of its flat surface ...
format for long-term data archival purposes. In a press release following its announcement at IFA 2013, Panasonic announced that it had acquired the "Cameramanager video surveillance service" with the intention of expanding its reach to cloud-based solutions. In 2014, Panasonic Healthcare was bought by outside investors. Panasonic Healthcare was later renamed as PHCHD, which stands for Panasonic HealthCare HD. In July 2014, it was announced that Panasonic has reached a basic agreement with Tesla Motors to participate in the Gigafactory, the battery plant that the American electric vehicle manufacturer plans to build in the U.S. In August 2014, Tesla said the plant would be built in the Southwest or Western United States by 2020. The $US5 billion plant would employ 6,500 people, and reduce Tesla's battery costs by 30 per cent. The company said it was looking at potential sites in
Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...
,
Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
,
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
,
New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Albuquerque metropolitan area, Tiguex , Offi ...
and California. In October 2014, Panasonic announced its initial investment in Tesla Motors’ battery factory would amount to "tens of billions" of yen, according to the firm's CEO. In November 2014, Panasonic announced its partnership with Photon Interactive to create customized and personalized digital signs in stores. In January 2015, Panasonic announced it has stopped making TVs in China and plans to liquidate its joint venture in Shandong. In March 2015, Panasonic announced plans to buy US satellite communication service provider ITC Global. In April 2015, Panasonic announced its new range of products and relaunched its brand in South Africa. The company intends to use South Africa as a springboard into Africa, with Nigeria and Egypt as its initial targets. In June 2015, Panasonic reached agreements with three Australian energy utilities (Red Energy, Ergon Energy and ActewAGL) to trial its home-based battery storage options. In November 2015, Panasonic announced that it set up a new plant in Suzhou, China, through its subsidiary, Panasonic Ecology Systems Co., Ltd, to produce a new type of catalyst-coated diesel particulate filter (DPF) that decomposes matter contained in diesel engine exhaust gas. In November 2015, Panasonic starts to retail locally harvested produce from its indoor agriculture facility salads via Veggie Life branding in Singapore, from the first licensed indoor vegetable farm in the country using Panasonic's own technology. In February 2016, Panasonic and the City of
Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
formed a formal partnership to make Denver the "smartest" city in the US. Joseph M. Taylor, chairman and CEO of Panasonic Corp. of America, laid out the plans for the partnership in four key areas: smart housing and small offices, energy and utilities, transportation and city services and smart buildings. Due to increased competition from China, Panasonic's Li-ion automotive market share decreased from 47% in 2014 to 34% in 2015. In June 2016, Tesla announced that Panasonic would be the exclusive supplier of batteries for its mass market vehicle Model 3. Batteries for the higher-end Model S sedan and Model X SUV will also be supplied by Panasonic. In early 2016, Panasonic president
Kazuhiro Tsuga Kazuhiro Tsuga is the current President of Panasonic. Early life and education Tsuga studied at Osaka University and graduated in 1979 with a B.S. in bioengineering. He immediately joined the workforce, and obtained a M.S. in computer science ...
confirmed a planned total investment of about $1.6 billion by the company to construct Gigafactory to full capacity. However, after the number of Model 3 reservations became known in April, Panasonic moved production plans forward and announced a
bond Bond or bonds may refer to: Common meanings * Bond (finance), a type of debt security * Bail bond, a commercial third-party guarantor of surety bonds in the United States * Chemical bond, the attraction of atoms, ions or molecules to form chemical ...
sale for $US3.86 billion, most of it to be invested in Gigafactory. In 2016, Panasonic debuted a transparent TV. In July 2016, Panasonic unveiled its interest in making acquisitions in the artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning space. According to a source, the company has put aside $US10 million for use in either an acquisition or joint venture. In August 2018, the company announced, to avoid potential tax issues Panasonic would move its European headquarters from the UK to Amsterdam in October as Brexit approaches. On September 25, 2018, Panasonic became one of the founding members of the
L-Mount Alliance The L-Mount Alliance is an alliance between Leica Camera AG, Panasonic and Sigma, launched on 25 September 2018, whereby Panasonic and Sigma will make use of the L-Mount standard initially developed by Leica and will offer cameras and lenses uti ...
, and announced two full-frame mirrorless cameras and a range of L-Mount lenses to be launched in 2019. The 47-megapixel Panasonic Lumix S1R and the 24-megapixel Panasonic Lumix S1 will be the first full-frame mirrorless cameras produced by Panasonic and will offer the Lumix Pro support service for professional photographers. These cameras will also be equipped with Dual Image Stabilization technology to help photographers when shooting in low-light. In 2019, Panasonic sold its semiconductors and security systems (security camera) businesses. The company also decided to completely exit from the
liquid-crystal display A liquid-crystal display (LCD) is a flat-panel display or other electronically modulated optical device that uses the light-modulating properties of liquid crystals combined with polarizers. Liquid crystals do not emit light directly but ...
panel business by 2021, marking the end of its display production, to focus its resources on the automotive and industrial businesses. Panasonic's LCD plant in
Himeji 260px, Himeji City Hall is a city located in Hyōgo Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 525,682 in 227,099 households and a population density of 980 persons per km². The total area of the city is ...
, Hyogo will be overhauled to manufacture automotive batteries. In 2020, Panasonic exited the vending machine business, as it failed to achieve profitability, lagging behind rivals
Fuji Electric , operating under the brand name FE, is a Japanese electrical equipment company, manufacturing pressure transmitters, flowmeters, gas analyzers, controllers, inverters, pumps, generators, ICs, motors, and power equipment. History Fuji Electric ...
, Sanden and Glory. Meanwhile, Panasonic has made an investment to take a 20% stake in
Blue Yonder Blue Yonder (formerly JDA Software Group) is an American software and consultancy company owned by multinational conglomerate Panasonic. Blue Yonder provides supply chain management, manufacturing planning, retail planning, store operations and c ...
, the supply-chain management software company previously known as JDA Software, deepening the integration of the former's industrial connected technology and the latter's products that has been under way since a year ago. On November 19, 2020, Panasonic announced a restructuring set to be completed by 2022 in which the company spins off the domain companies as wholly owned subsidiaries while transforming itself into the holding company named ''Panasonic Holdings Corporation''. Panasonic's plans are similar to that of its competitor,
Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...
, did on April 1, 2021, when Sony Corporation became Sony Group Corporation. In January 2021, the company announced that it would end its
solar panel A solar cell panel, solar electric panel, photo-voltaic (PV) module, PV panel or solar panel is an assembly of photovoltaic solar cells mounted in a (usually rectangular) frame, and a neatly organised collection of PV panels is called a photo ...
production. In March 2021, it was reported that Panasonic will buy Blue Yonder for $US6.45 billion after buying a 20% stake in Blue Yonder for 86 billion yen in 2020. This deal is considered one of the biggest since 2011. In June 2021, it was reported that Panasonic sold its entire stake in Tesla for $US3.6 billion. In August 2022, it was reported that the company, which is a suppler to Tesla, was in discussions to build a new electric vehicle battery plant in the US, with
Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...
named as a leading contender. This would be on top of the plant planned for
Kansas Kansas () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its Capital city, capital is Topeka, Kansas, Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita, Kansas, Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebras ...
. Each would have similar capacity. In the first half of 2022, Panasonic is ranked fourth in the world with a market share of 10 per cent according to SNE research.


Current operations

As of March 31, 2012, Panasonic employed about 330,000 staff (reduced to around 260,000 by March 2020) and had around 580 subsidiaries. Panasonic had total revenues of in 2012, of which 53 percent were generated in Japan, 25 per cent in Asia (excluding Japan), 12 per cent in the Americas and 10 per cent in Europe. The company invested a total of in research and development in 2012, equivalent to 6.6 percent of its revenues in that year. In 2012, Panasonic held a total of 140,146 patents worldwide. Panasonic was the world's top patent applicant for three decades, from the 1980s to the 2000s. According to a research conducted by the
European Patent Office The European Patent Office (EPO) is one of the two organs of the European Patent Organisation (EPOrg), the other being the Administrative Council. The EPO acts as executive body for the organisation
in 2020, the number of battery-related patents having been filed by Panasonic from 2000 to 2018 was the second-highest in the world. In 2021, the
WIPO The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO; french: link=no, Organisation mondiale de la propriété intellectuelle (OMPI)) is one of the 15 specialized agencies of the United Nations (UN). Pursuant to the 1967 Convention Establishin ...
's annual review of the World Intellectual Property Indicators report ranked Panasonic's number of patent applications published under the PCT System as 10th in the world, with 1,611 patent applications being published during 2020. This position is up from their previous ranking as 12th in 2019 with 1,567 applications. As of July 2020, Panasonic's operations are organised into seven "domain companies": Appliances, Life Solutions, Connected Solutions, Automotive, Industrial Solutions, and two overseas branches overseeing the businesses in the United States and Asia. Each of these companies may comprise multiple subsidiaries conducting actual operations.


Life Solutions


Panasonic Homes

Panasonic Homes was a Japanese real estate and construction company and a subsidiary of Life Solutions Company, Panasonic, founded as the housing unit of Matsushita Electric Works in 1963. In recent years, Panasonic Homes has been involved in developing
smart cities A smart city is a technologically modern urban area that uses different types of electronic methods and sensors to collect specific data. Information gained from that data is used to manage assets, resources and services efficiently; in retur ...
. In 2019, it was announced that
Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...
and Panasonic would initiate a process to merge their housing businesses, Toyota Housing and Misawa Homes from the former and Panasonic Homes of the latter, into a joint venture scheduled to be established in January 2020 and co-controlled by the two parties, named Prime Life Technologies Corporation.


Connected Solutions


Panasonic Avionics Corporation

Panasonic Avionics Corporation (PAC), a subsidiary of Panasonic Corporation of North America and a unit of Connected Solutions Company, Panasonic, is a supplier of
in-flight entertainment In-flight entertainment (IFE) refers to the entertainment available to aircraft passengers during a flight. In 1936, the airship '' Hindenburg'' offered passengers a piano, lounge, dining room, smoking room, and bar during the -day flight betwee ...
(IFE) and communication systems. Headquartered in
Lake Forest, California Lake Forest is a city in Orange County, California. The population was 85,858 at the 2020 census. Lake Forest incorporated as a city on December 20, 1991. Prior to incorporation, the community had been known as El Toro. Following a vote in 20 ...
where engineering, development and testing is performed while system installation, field engineering, major quality functions, certification and program management are performed at the
Bothell, Washington Bothell () is a city in King County, Washington, King and Snohomish County, Washington, Snohomish counties in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. It is part of the Seattle metropolitan area, situated near the northeast end of Lake ...
facility – Panasonic Avionics Corporation employs approximately 3,300 employees based in over 70 locations worldwide, with major facilities in London, Toulouse, Hamburg, Dallas, Dubai, and Singapore. A majority of the component manufacturing is carried out in Osaka, Japan. In February 2017, Panasonic reported that the subsidiary was being investigated by American authorities under the FCPA.


Panasonic Mobile Communications

Panasonic Mobile Communications manufactures mobile phone handsets and related equipment. As of 2012, it had around a 20 percent share of the Japanese handset market. Panasonic used to market mobile phone handsets worldwide, but in December 2005 announced its withdrawal from overseas markets due to poor sales. Panasonic returned to the overseas market in 2012, with the release of the Panasonic Eluga Android-powered smartphone. In July 2013, Panasonic announced the company will not supply a new model of
smartphone A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whi ...
to NTT DoCoMo Inc., because NTT DoCoMo will focus with Sony and Samsung products. In Q2 2013, Panasonic Mobile Communications booked a 5.4 billion yen operating loss. From July 2013 to January 2018, Panasonic India has released one more series of Android Smartphones Panasonic P Series, along with Eluga Series.


Automotive


Automotive Systems division

Automotive Systems Business Division, Automotive Company, Panasonic, formerly Panasonic Automotive Systems (PAS), is an original equipment manufacturer of factory installed mobile audio equipment such as headunits, speakers and navigation modules. It is a subcontractor to most major auto manufacturers, supplying virtually every Japanese and American automaker, along with many European automakers. In 2015, PAS had a revenue of $12.4 billion. Panasonic also purchased the assets of Sanyo Corporation in 2017. Panasonic also formerly manufactured aftermarket vehicle audio products such as head units and speakers.


Giga Nevada

Panasonic is the financial/technological partner of Tesla-owned
Giga Nevada Gigafactory Nevada (also known as Giga Nevada or Gigafactory 1) is a lithium-ion battery and electric vehicle component factory in Storey County, Nevada, US. The facility, located east of Reno, is owned and operated by Tesla, Inc., and suppl ...
(Gigafactory 1) and has invested in the factory ever since the project's conception; in contrast to Tesla ever expanding its battery production to overseas, Panasonic has refrained from taking part in Tesla's ventures elsewhere; aside from Giga Nevada, it has own sites in Japan from which it has served Tesla since before the completion of the Gigafactory.


Prime Planet Energy and Solutions

In 2020, Panasonic founded an electric vehicle battery joint venture with
Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...
, named Prime Planet Energy & Solutions Inc. (PPES), after its status as the exclusive battery supplier to Tesla has been diminished amid the changes in market environment, such as the rises of the competitors from South Korea and China and Tesla's move to bring the development and manufacturing of battery cells in-house. Panasonic owns 49% of the venture. It was the first time the two companies joined hands in the realm of battery technology since
Primearth EV Energy Primearth EV Energy Co., Ltd. (abbreviated as PEVE) is a Japanese manufacturer of prismatic nickel–metal hydride (NiMH) and lithium-ion battery packs for hybrid electric vehicles, located in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. PEVE's products had been ...
(PEVE) kicked off in 1996 to produce batteries for
hybrid electric cars Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two dif ...
.


Industrial Solutions


Overseas operations


Panasonic Corporation of North America

Panasonic Corporation of North America is Panasonic's principal subsidiary in the United States. It has been headquartered in Newark, New Jersey since 2013, after being previously headquartered in
Secaucus Secaucus ( ) is a town in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States census, the town's population was 16,264,Gateway Region. Founded in New York City at the
MetLife Building The MetLife Building (also 200 Park Avenue and formerly the Pan Am Building) is a skyscraper at Park Avenue and 45th Street, north of Grand Central Terminal, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Designed in the Internation ...
in September 1959, it was known as Matsushita Electric Corporation of America (MECA) prior to 2005. Panasonic Eco Systems North America, a business unit of Panasonic North America, distributes renewable energy products in the United States and Canada. Established in 2012, Panasonic Eco Systems sells renewable energy systems and home energy management products, including high efficiency solar panels, battery storage systems, and indoor air quality products. It also distributes cordless assembly tools used on factory assembly lines. In 2016, the company began expanding its network of residential solar installers in order to market Panasonic Solar HIT (heterojunction with intrinsic thin layer) panels and battery storage nationally, reaching 150 authorized installers by November 2018. The company began offering a 25-year warranty for its HIT photovoltaic modules – compared to the industry standard at the time of 10 years – in 2017. In 2019, Panasonic introduced its EverVolt brand of solar and battery storage products. The company transitioned its solar panel manufacturing to
OEMs An original equipment manufacturer (OEM) is generally perceived as a company that produces non-aftermarket parts and equipment that may be marketed by another manufacturer. It is a common industry term recognized and used by many professional or ...
in early 2021 in order to focus on offering a wider range of products. Later that year, Panasonic debuted the EverVolt 2.0 energy storage system rated for outdoor use.


Panasonic Europe

Panasonic's principal subsidiaries in Europe are Panasonic Europe Ltd. and Panasonic Marketing Europe GmbH. Panasonic Europe is headquartered in London, England, but it is moving its headquarters to
Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...
,
Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
due to
Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 Greenwich Mean Time, GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 Central Eur ...
. Panasonic employs around 12,000 people in Europe, and the region generates around 10 percent of its total revenues. In 2012, Panasonic had around a 10 percent share of the consumer electronics market in Europe, ranking third behind
Samsung Electronics Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (, sometimes shortened to SEC and stylized as SΛMSUNG) is a South Korean multinational electronics corporation headquartered in Yeongtong-gu, Suwon, South Korea. It is the pinnacle of the Samsung chaebol, acc ...
(with 26 percent) and
LG Electronics LG Electronics Inc. () is a South Korean multinational electronics company headquartered in Yeouido-dong, Seoul, South Korea. LG Electronics is a part of LG Corporation, the fourth largest '' chaebol'' in South Korea, and often considered ...
(with 12 percent). Panasonic operates a chain of stores in the United Kingdom and Ireland called "Panasonic Store" which exclusively sell Panasonic products. Prior to 2008 the chain was named "shop@Panasonic". In November 2010, Panasonic Electric Works established Panasonic Electric Works Vossloh-Schwabe Serbia d.o.o, a new company in Svilajnac,
Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia ( Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hu ...
, to manufacture energy-efficient electronic devices (ballasts) for lighting fixtures. Volume production commenced in January 2011. In May 2015, Panasonic launched its virtual solar service to UK consumers. The service allows users to run a simulation to provide an estimate of how much a rooftop solar installation would produce if it were installed in their home.


Panasonic India

Mr. Daizo Ito serves as Group President for Panasonic Regional Headquarters India (situated in Haryana) at Panasonic India Pvt. Ltd. Panasonic India makes washing machines, refrigerators, electric rice cookers, electric irons, mixer-grinders/blenders and other home appliances for the Indian market. Panasonic Life Solutions India Pvt Ltd (formerly known as Anchor Electricals Pvt. Ltd.), an Indian company which makes electric lamps, switches, sockets and other electrical accessories, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Panasonic Corporation.


PT Panasonic Gobel Indonesia

PT Panasonic Gobel Indonesia (formerly known as PT National Gobel and PT National Panasonic Gobel) is the name of the company's
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...
division based in Cawang,
East Jakarta ) in Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (TMII), Jatinegara railway station and Museum of Transportation at Taman Mini Indonesia Indah. , image_seal = Lambang Kota Jakarta Timur.png , motto = , image_map ...
. Tomonobu Otsu is the current President Director and
Rachmat Gobel Rachmad Gobel (born 3 September 1962) is an Indonesian businessman and politician from Gorontalo. His family controls the company, Gobel Group which is now called PT. Panasonic Gobel Indonesia, an Indonesian division of Panasonic. He is also th ...
is the current President Commissioner. It is a joint venture between Panasonic Corporation Japan and the Gobel Group of Indonesia.


Former operations


MCA Inc.

Matsushita bought American media company MCA Inc. for US$6.6 billion. In 1995, it sold 80% of MCA's shares to Canadian drink company
Seagram The Seagram Company Ltd. (which traded as Seagram's) was a Canadian multinational conglomerate formerly headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. Originally a distiller of Canadian whisky based in Waterloo, Ontario, it was once (in the 1990s) the ...
. MCA was renamed Universal Studios Inc. in 1996, after which its motion picture business has changed hands continuously,
Vivendi Vivendi SE is a French mass media holding company headquartered in Paris. Widely known as the owner of Gameloft, Groupe Canal+, Havas, Editis, Prisma Media, Vivendi Village and Dailymotion, the company has activities in television, film, video ...
,
General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable ene ...
and
Comcast Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...
in order, while the music division has become
Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch–American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...
, acquired and wholly owned by Vivendi up until 2019.


Panasonic 3DO

Panasonic used to manufacture 3DO gaming systems alongside
GoldStar GoldStar was a South Korean electronics company established in 1958. The corporate name was changed to LG Electronics and LG Cable on February 28, 1995, after merging with Lucky Chemical. LG Cable was spun off from LG Electronics and changed i ...
and
Sanyo , stylized as SANYO, is a Japanese electronics company and formerly a member of the ''Fortune'' Global 500 whose headquarters was located in Moriguchi, Osaka prefecture, Japan. Sanyo had over 230 subsidiaries and affiliates, and was founded by ...
but stopped 3 years later, as it was not a success. There were a total of 2 million systems sold from 1993 to 1996, though it is not known how many of these were sold by each manufacturer. Panasonic obtained exclusive rights to manufacture the 3DO's successor console, the M2, but ultimately backed out of releasing it due to the highly competitive state of the console gaming market at the time.


Panasonic Healthcare

In 2014, Panasonic Healthcare was bought by outside investors and renamed as PHCHD, which stands for Panasonic HealthCare HD. It mainly makes cryogenic and ULT freezers for laboratories and sterilization equipment.


Panasonic Semiconductor Solutions

Panasonic had been in the semiconductor industry since 1957, when it started the mass production of
silicon transistor upright=1.4, gate (G), body (B), source (S) and drain (D) terminals. The gate is separated from the body by an insulating layer (pink). A transistor is a semiconductor device used to Electronic amplifier, amplify or electronic switch, switch e ...
s and bipolar ICs. From 2012 onwards the company had implemented a series of measures to boost productivity of the business, including transfers of its production facilities to a joint venture with TowerJazz, and the
system-on-a-chip A system on a chip or system-on-chip (SoC ; pl. ''SoCs'' ) is an integrated circuit that integrates most or all components of a computer or other electronic system. These components almost always include a central processing unit (CPU), memory ...
designing unit to Panasonic/
Fujitsu is a Japanese multinational information and communications technology equipment and services corporation, established in 1935 and headquartered in Tokyo. Fujitsu is the world's sixth-largest IT services provider by annual revenue, and the la ...
joint venture
Socionext is a system on a chip (SoC) company formed in March 2015 from former system LSI businesses of Fujitsu and Panasonic. It has about 2,500 employees worldwide and is headquartered in Yokohama, Japan. It is privately held by the Development Bank of Ja ...
. In 2019, Panasonic decided to sell its remaining chip business and the stake in the joint venture with TowerJazz to Nuvoton following heavy losses.


Products

Panasonic has offered a wide range of products and services, including air conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines, compressors, lighting, televisions, personal computers, mobile phones (as a subsidiary of
TCL Electronics TCL Electronics Holdings Limited is a Chinese company headquartered and listed in Hong Kong, but incorporated in the Grand Cayman, the Cayman Islands. It manufactures televisions and other consumer electronics. It is a subsidiary of TCL Industri ...
), audio equipment, cameras, broadcasting equipment,
projectors A projector or image projector is an optical device that projects an image (or moving images) onto a surface, commonly a projection screen. Most projectors create an image by shining a light through a small transparent lens, but some newer types ...
, automotive electronics, aircraft in-flight entertainment systems, semiconductors,
lithium batteries Lithium battery may refer to: * Lithium metal battery, a non-rechargeable battery with lithium as an anode ** Rechargeable lithium metal battery, a rechargeable counterpart to the lithium metal battery * Lithium-ion battery, a rechargeable batte ...
, electrical components, optical devices, bicycles, electronic materials and photovoltaic modules. Ventilation appliances such as electric fans are manufactured under KDK and rebranded as Panasonic.


Sponsorships


Football

Panasonic sponsors the German footballer Marco Reus, who plays for
Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footb ...
club
Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, commonly known as Borussia Dortmund (), BVB (), or simply Dortmund (), is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its men's professional fo ...
and
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
. Panasonic owns
Panasonic Wild Knights Saitama Wild Knights (formerly Panasonic Wild Knights) is a Japanese rugby union team formerly based in Ōta city, Gunma prefecture which plays in the Top League. Inspired by Tony Brown at fly half (though he was not captain), it dominated the ...
a rugby club base in
Gunma is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Gunma Prefecture has a population of 1,937,626 (1 October 2019) and has a geographic area of 6,362 km2 (2,456 sq mi). Gunma Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture and Fukushima P ...
just outside of Tokyo. They compete in the highest level of rugby in Japan
Top League Japan Rugby League One (formerly the Top League) is a rugby union competition in Japan. It is the highest level of professional rugby competition in the country. The Japan Rugby Football Union created the competition in 2003, by absorbing the ...
. Panasonic owns
Gamba Osaka is a Japanese professional football club based in Suita, Osaka Prefecture. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. The club's name ''Gamba'' comes from the Japanese , meaning "to do your best" or "to s ...
, a club from the J.League, the Japanese professional football league. Panasonic is an official partner and sponsor of
AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League (abbreviated as ACL) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's top-division football clubs. It is the most prestigious club competition ...
and
Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Cana ...
. Between 1981 and 1983, Panasonic was the shirt sponsor of English
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...
club Nottingham Forest F.C. On January 16, 2010, Panasonic signed a three-year, 47 million (£518,500) jersey sponsorship deal for the India national football team.


Other

Panasonic was a primary sponsor of
Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...
's
Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
program, Panasonic Toyota Racing.
Hiro Matsushita , also known by , is a Japanese businessman and former racing driver. Matsushita is the first and only Japanese driver to win the Toyota Atlantic Championship (Pacific) in 1989 and also the first Japanese driver to race at the Indy 500. He is th ...
, grandson of the company founder, is a former race car driver who ran a company overseeing sponsorship arrangements for the company. Panasonic was also a sponsor in
NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and ...
's
Busch Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...
in
2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; " Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discover ...
, sponsoring the No. 67 Smith Brothers Racing Dodge for
Ken Schrader Kenneth Schrader (born May 29, 1955) is an American professional racing driver. He currently races on local dirt and asphalt tracks around the country while also competing part-time in the ARCA Menards Series, driving the No. 11 Ford for Fast Tra ...
, Bryan Reffner, C.W. Smith, and Johnny Benson Jr. In 2007, Panasonic became a technology partner with
Hendrick Motorsports Hendrick Motorsports (HMS) is an American professional auto racing organization that competes in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team was founded in 1984 as All Star Racing by Rick Hendrick. Hendrick Motorsports has won a NASCAR-record 291 Cup S ...
and served as a primary sponsor of the team's No. 24 car with
Jeff Gordon Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, who is the Vice Chairman for Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, driving the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick M ...
for two races in 2014 and throughout 2015. . Panasonic has been a top level sponsor of the Olympic Games since the Seoul Olympics in 1988. Panasonic was the official partner and sponsor of the
Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...
from 1975 to 1989, along with Technics. Various Panasonic ads appeared at the old
Boston Garden The Boston Garden was an arena in Boston, Massachusetts. Designed by boxing promoter Tex Rickard, who also built the third iteration of New York's Madison Square Garden, it opened on November 17, 1928, as "Boston Madison Square Garden" (la ...
during the 1980s. On September 8, 2016, Panasonic was unveiled as the title sponsor for the new Jaguar Formula E team. On February 14, 2017, Panasonic was unveiled as the main sponsor of
Lega Basket Serie A The Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) is a professional men's club basketball league that has been organised in Italy since 1920. Serie A is organised by Lega Basket, which is regulated by the Italian Basketball Federation (FIP). It is the highest-tier ...
, the highest professional
basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
league in Italy and one of the top ranked national domestic league in Europe. Panasonic currently sponsors Japanese
IndyCar Series The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices o ...
driver Takuma Sato in his
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing is an auto racing team that has participated in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the IndyCar Series. Headquartered in Brownsburg, Indiana and Hilliard, Ohio, it is co-owned by 1986 Indianapolis 500 ...
car.


Environmental record

Panasonic is ranked in joint 11th place (out of 16) in
Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth t ...
's Guide to Greener Electronics, which ranks electronics manufacturers on policies and practices to reduce their impact on the climate, produce greener products and make their operations more sustainable. The company is one of the top scorers on the Products criteria, praised for its good product life cycles and the number of products which are free from polyvinyl chloride plastic (PVC). It also scores maximum points for the energy efficiency of its products with 100 percent of its TVs meeting the latest
Energy Star Energy Star (trademarked ''ENERGY STAR'') is a program run by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) that promotes energy efficiency. The program provides information on the energy consumption of pr ...
standards and exceeding the standby power requirement. However, Panasonic's score is let down by its low score on the Energy criteria, with the Guide stating it must focus on planned reductions of greenhouse gases (GHG), set targets to reduce GHG emissions by at least 30% by 2015 and increase renewable energy use by 2020. In 2014, an article in ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...
'' reported that Panasonic will compensate its expatriate workers in China a "hazard pay" as compensation for the chronic air pollution they are subjected to as they work. In 2020, Panasonic joined
WIPO GREEN WIPO GREEN is a World Intellectual Property Organization program that supports global efforts to address climate change and food security through sharing of sustainable technology innovations . Established in 2013, WIPO GREEN is a free online ...
as an official partner in an effort to address climate change. In February 2022, the Wall Street Journal reported that Panasonic got its highest-emitting Chinese factory to “virtually net zero” carbon dioxide.


Senior leadership

* ''Chairman:''
Kazuhiro Tsuga Kazuhiro Tsuga is the current President of Panasonic. Early life and education Tsuga studied at Osaka University and graduated in 1979 with a B.S. in bioengineering. He immediately joined the workforce, and obtained a M.S. in computer science ...
(since April 2021) * ''President and CEO:'' Yuki Kusumi (since April 2021)


List of former chairmen

# Kōnosuke Matsushita (1961–1973) # Arataro Takahashi (1973–1977) #
Masaharu Matsushita , was a Japanese businessman who served as the second President of Panasonic for sixteen years beginning in 1961. He was the son-in-law of Panasonic's founder, Konosuke Matsushita. Masaharu Matsushita has been credited with expanding Panasonic i ...
(1973–2000) # Yoichi Morishita (2000–2006) #
Kunio Nakamura was a Japanese businessman. He served as the president of Panasonic from 2000 to 2005 and assumed the position of chairman on 28 June 2006. Even though he is widely regarded as having reformed the company, he created a crisis in the mid-2000s for ...
(2006–2012) #
Fumio Ōtsubo was the President of Panasonic. He also serves as a member of the board of Teijin Early life Fumio Ōtsubo was born in 1945 in Osaka, Japan, where he attended the Kansai University. Career Fumio Ōtsubo began his career with Panasonic ...
(2012–2021)


List of former presidents and CEOs

# Kōnosuke Matsushita (1918–1961) #
Masaharu Matsushita , was a Japanese businessman who served as the second President of Panasonic for sixteen years beginning in 1961. He was the son-in-law of Panasonic's founder, Konosuke Matsushita. Masaharu Matsushita has been credited with expanding Panasonic i ...
(1961–1977) # Toshihiko Yamashita (1977–1986) # Akio Tanii (1986–1993) # Yoichi Morishita (1993–2000) #
Kunio Nakamura was a Japanese businessman. He served as the president of Panasonic from 2000 to 2005 and assumed the position of chairman on 28 June 2006. Even though he is widely regarded as having reformed the company, he created a crisis in the mid-2000s for ...
(2000–2006) #
Fumio Ōtsubo was the President of Panasonic. He also serves as a member of the board of Teijin Early life Fumio Ōtsubo was born in 1945 in Osaka, Japan, where he attended the Kansai University. Career Fumio Ōtsubo began his career with Panasonic ...
(2006–2012) #
Kazuhiro Tsuga Kazuhiro Tsuga is the current President of Panasonic. Early life and education Tsuga studied at Osaka University and graduated in 1979 with a B.S. in bioengineering. He immediately joined the workforce, and obtained a M.S. in computer science ...
(2012–2021)


Slogans

* "Just slightly ahead of our time" (1970s–1990s) * "Even more than you expected ut of the blue (1970s–1996, Australia) * "What's on Panasonic" (1990–1996) * "The quest for zero defect" (1990s–2003, South Africa) * "Panasonic, The One That I Want" (1996–2003, USA) * "What's New by Panasonic" (1996–2003) * "Ideas for Life" (2003–2013, Global) * "A Better Life, A Better World" (2013–present) * "Wonders!" (2014–present) * "Let's Live Life Better" (2017–2018) * "Live Your Best" (2022–)


See also

*
List of Panasonic camcorders This is a list of Panasonic camcorders. Professional standard definition models (MiniDV) Panasonic AG-DVX100 (2002) Introduced in 2002, AG-DVX100 was Panasonic's first affordable 3CCD digital progressive scan camcorder. Equipped with a 10x Le ...
*
List of Japanese companies Location of Japan This is a list of notable companies based in Japan. For further information on the types of business entities in this country and their abbreviations, see " Business entities in Japan". Note that 株式会社 can be (and freque ...
* Konosuke Matsushita *
Masaharu Matsushita , was a Japanese businessman who served as the second President of Panasonic for sixteen years beginning in 1961. He was the son-in-law of Panasonic's founder, Konosuke Matsushita. Masaharu Matsushita has been credited with expanding Panasonic i ...
*
Hiro Matsushita , also known by , is a Japanese businessman and former racing driver. Matsushita is the first and only Japanese driver to win the Toyota Atlantic Championship (Pacific) in 1989 and also the first Japanese driver to race at the Indy 500. He is th ...


Notes


References


Further reading

*


External links

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