The Panasonic Corporation was founded in 1918 by Konosuke Matsushita in Japan. Panasonic is one of the largest electronics producers in the world along with Sony and Toshiba and in 2009 was ranked the 89th largest company in the world. Panasonic started out producing duplex lamp sockets, electrical components and light fixtures. After World War 2 Japans economy began to grow and Panasonic began producing radios, appliances and bicycles. Between 1945 and 1980 their road and touring bicycles and components accounted for a substantial portion of their appliance division, but this fact was not well known at the time. After the death of Konosuke Matsushita in 1989 Panasonic abandoned the bicycle business due to low profit margins compared to other areas of their business. Their electronics business on the other hand was booming. During the 50's through the 80's Panasonic sold televisions, stereo receivers, marine radio direction finders, shortwave radios and small appliances. In 1983 Panasonic released an IBM compatible computer that featured a built in printer, the first to offer full IBM compatibility. In 2009 Panasonic and their rival Sanyo merged as one company creating a super corporation but by 2011 had cut more than 40,000 jobs from its overseas division, about 10% of its workforce to streamline overlapping operations. In 2012 they also plan to cease their Plasma TV production and fire another 1000 workers. Today Panasonic sells a wide range of consumer equipment such as cameras, TV's, home entertainment, computers and printers, appliances, and personal care solutions. |