Panasonic

Panasonic Corporation, is a Japanese multinational 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 grew 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 Worldwide Top 20 Semiconductor Sales Leaders.

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 labeled its export audio speakers and lamps "PanaSonic", which was the first time it used its "Panasonic" brand name.

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 unify "National" in Japan to its global brand "Panasonic" (by March 2010). The name change was approved at a shareholders' meeting on June 26, 2008.

Panasonic was founded in 1918 by Konosuke Matsushita first selling duplex lamp sockets.
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. It sold televisions, radios, and home appliances in some markets. The company began opening manufacturing plants around the world. It 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 short-wave radios, and developed a successful line of stereo receivers, CD players, and other components

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 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 is to be completed by September 2009, and will result in one 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

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