Corporate History

Panasonic History: Quest for Innovation

Panasonic starts with a desire to create things of value. As hard work and dedication result in one innovative product after another, the fledgling company takes its first steps towards becoming the electronics giant of today.

Birth of Panasonic
1945-1959
1960-1979
1980-

Birth of Panasonic

1894	From birth to the founding of the company
1918	Panasonic launched
1920	Establishment of the "Hoichi-Kai"
1922	First head office and factory established
1923	Bullet-shaped bicycle lamp developed and marketed
1927	Square bicycle lamp developed and marketed
1927	Super iron marketed
1927	Communication media published
1929	Management objective and company creed announced
1931	Tradition of celebrating the first shipment of each year instituted
1931	Radio production started
1932	First commemoration of company founding held
1933	New head office and factory constructed in Kadoma
1933	Konosuke Matsushita institutes divisional system
1933	Motor development and production launched
1934	Employee Training Institute opens
1935	Pricing policy based on co-existence and mutual prosperity philosophy
1935	Trading company established
1935	Rules and regulations issued
1939	Public tv broadcasts successfully tested
1941	War in the pacific breaks out

1945-1959

1945	Up from ashes
1946	Postwar period of hardship
1951	Matsushita makes his first visit to the United States
1952	Technical cooperation agreement with Philips lnked
1951-54	Sales and finance companies established
1953	Construction of the Central Research Laboratory
1956	Announcement of Five-year Plan
1956	Beginning of the home appliance era
1956	New factories built
1959	Establishment of Matsushita Electric Corporation of America (MECA)

1960-1979

1961	Overseas manufacturing rapidly built-up
1961	Company organized with Konosuke Matsushita as chairman and Masaharu Matsushita as president
1960-65	Establishment of Corporate Special Equipment Sales and Corporate Housing Equipment Sales Divisions
1963	Service Division established
1964	Atami conference held
1965	Reorganization of the sales and distribution network
1965	Establishment of the five-day work week
1966	Rapid growth phase entered
1968	Panasonic's 50th anniversary marked
1969	Technological exhibition held
1970	Pavilion erected at Expo 70
1970	Panasonic meets the consumer movement
1971	Panasonic shares traded on NYSE Nixon dollar shock
1973	Konosuke Matsushita retires to the position of executive adviser
1973	The oil crisis
1977	The company builds a new management team with Toshihiko Yamashita as president and Masaharu Matsushita as chairman
1977	VHS-standard VCR marketed

1980-

1983	ACTION 86 initiated
1986	Akio Tanii becomes president
1987	Joint venture company with Beijing established
1988	MET merges with MEI
1989	Death of company founder Konosuke Matsushita
1990	Addition of MCA to the Panasonic group
1991	Environmental charter set forth
1992	Information and Communications Systems Center opens
1993	A new departure under Yoichi Morishita
1993	Matsushita Dissolves Partnership with Philips
1995	80 Percent of MCA Share Sold to Seagram Co. Ltd.
1996	Releasing the Industry's First-ever Digital Mobile Phone Weighing Less than 100g
1997	Introducing the System of Internal Division Companies
1998	Celebrating the 80th Anniversary of Our Founding
1998	Digital Television Sets Released in the US
2000	Kunio Nakamura Assumes the Position of President
2000	A Time Capsule Is Opened for the First Time in 30 Years
2001	Domestic Consumer Products Sales and Distribution System Reformed
2003	The Group Gets a New Start by Dividing into Business Domains
2003	Unification under the Global Brand "Panasonic? Delivering to the World the Global Brand Slogan "Panasonic ideas for life?
2004	Toward a Comprehensive Partnership with Matsushita Electric Works
2004	Stone Monument Erected to Mark Where Founder Konosuke Matsushita Started the Business
2005	Striving toward the Goal of Global No. 1 Share for Plasma Television Sets
2006	President Ohtsubo Takes the Helm
2007	Announcement of the "Eco Ideas Declaration? Bringing to People of the World an Eco Mindset That is One Step Evolved

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