History of Panasonic Holdings Corporation
Panasonic Panasonic Holdings Panasonic Group Corporate Profile History
Learn about the history of Panasonic Holdings Corporation which started its journey in 1918.
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March 1923

Bullet-shaped bicycle lamp developed and marketed.

April 1927

Established "National" brand.

August 1935

Established Matsushita Electric Trading Co., Ltd.

May 1949

Listed on Tokyo Stock Exchange and Osaka Securities Exchange.

September 1951

Listed on Nagoya Stock Exchange.

January 1952

Formed a capital alliance with Nakagawa Kikai Kabushiki Kaisha (subsequently renamed Matsushita Refrigeration Company).

May 1953

Established the Central Research Laboratory.

May 1956

Established Osaka Denki Seiki Kabushiki Kaisha (subsequently renamed Matsushita Seiko Co., Ltd.).

September 1959

Established Matsushita Electric Corporation of America (currently Panasonic Corporation of North America).

(Since then, established manufacturing and sales sites at various locations in the world.)

January 1961

Masaharu Matsushita became President of the Company.

August 1962

Formed a capital alliance with Toho Denki Kabushiki Kaisha (subsequently renamed Matsushita Graphic Communication Systems, Inc.).

November 1969

Established Matsushita Kotobuki Electronics Industries, Ltd. (subsequently Panasonic Healthcare Co., Ltd.).

December 1971

Listed on New York Stock Exchange.

December 1975

Issued U.S. dollar-denominated convertible bonds (100 million U.S. dollars at face value).

January 1976

Established Matsushita Electronic Components Co., Ltd. (subsequently renamed Panasonic Electronic Devices Co., Ltd.), and transferred electronic device manufacturing section to this establishment.

January 1977

Established Matsushita Household Equipment Co., Ltd., and transferred household equipment manufacturing section to this establishment.

Established Matsushita Industrial Equipment Co., Ltd. and transferred industrial equipment manufacturing section to this establishment.

February 1977

Toshihiko Yamashita became President of the Company.

January 1979

Established Matsushita Battery Industrial Co., Ltd., and transferred battery manufacturing section to this establishment.

July 1985

Established a finance subsidiary in U.S.

(In May 1986, established two finance subsidiaries in Europe.)

October 1985

Established Semiconductor Fundamental Research Laboratory.

February 1986

Akio Tanii became President of the Company.

March 1987

Changed the fiscal year end from November 20 to March 31.

April 1988

Absorbed Matsushita Electric Trading Co., Ltd.

April 1989

The Company's founder Konosuke Matsushita passed away.

December 1990

Acquired MCA INC. (MCA), a leading entertainment company in the U.S.

February 1993

Yoichi Morishita became President of the Company.

May 1993

Dissolved partnership with Philips regarding Matsushita Electronics Corporation and purchased all shares of Matsushita Electronics Corporation which Philips held.

April 1995

Absorbed Matsushita Household Equipment Co., Ltd.

June 1995

Sold 80% equity interest in MCA shares, which a subsidiary of the Company in U.S. held, to Seagram Company Ltd in Canada.

February 1999

Cancelled 50 million shares of treasury stock by 98.8 billion yen of retained earnings decided by resolution of 91st Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders.

April 2000

Made Matsushita Refrigeration Company into a wholly-owned subsidiary through shareexchange.

June 2000

Kunio Nakamura became President of the Company.

April 2001

Absorbed Matsushita Electronics Corporation.

April 2002

Established a joint venture liquid crystal display panel manufacturing company, Toshiba Matsushita Display Technology Co., Ltd. with Toshiba Corporation.

October 2002

Made Matsushita Communication Industrial Co., Ltd., Kyushu Matsushita Electric Co., Ltd., Matsushita Seiko Co., Ltd. (currently Panasonic Ecology Systems Co., Ltd.), Matsushita Kotobuki Electronics Industries, Ltd. and Matsushita Graphic Communication Systems, Inc. into wholly-owned subsidiaries through share-exchanges.

January 2003

Instituted business domain system through business restructuring.

Kyushu Matsushita Electric Co., Ltd. was merged with Matsushita Graphic Communication Systems, Inc.

April 2003

Established a joint venture cathode ray tubes manufacturing company, Matsushita Toshiba Picture Display Co., Ltd. (subsequently renamed MT Picture Display Co., Ltd., liquidated in May 2019) with Toshiba Corporation.

Made Matsushita Electronic Components Co., Ltd. and Matsushita Battery Industrial Co., Ltd. into wholly-owned subsidiaries through share-exchanges.

Unified its corporate brands as "Panasonic" worldwide.

April 2004

Made Matsushita Electric Works, Ltd. (subsequently renamed Panasonic Electric Works Co., Ltd. (PEW)), PanaHome Corporation (subsequently became a wholly-owned subsidiary in fiscal 2018 and renamed Panasonic Homes Co., Ltd. in April 2018.) and their subsidiaries into consolidated subsidiaries of the Company through additional purchase of shares of Matsushita Electric Works, Ltd.

April 2005

Absorbed Matsushita Industrial Information Equipment Co., Ltd.

February 2006

Sold the remaining shares of affiliated company of Universal Studios (formerly MCA), which a subsidiary of the Company in U.S. held, to Vivendi Universal.

June 2006

Fumio Ohtsubo became President of the Company.

March 2007

Made Matsushita Toshiba Picture Display Co., Ltd. into a wholly-owned subsidiary.

August 2007

Excluded JVC and its subsidiaries from consolidated subsidiaries of the Company due to JVC's issuance of new shares and third party allotments. As a result, JVC became an associated company accounted for under the equity method. (Subsequently, in January 2011, JVC was excluded from an associated company accounted for under the equity method)

April 2008

Absorbed Matsushita Refrigeration Company.

October 2008

The Company changed its name from Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. to Panasonic Corporation.

Absorbed Matsushita Battery Industrial Co., Ltd.

April 2009

Sold all the shares of Toshiba Matsushita Display Technology Co., Ltd., which the Company held, to Toshiba Corporation.

December 2009

Acquired majority of the voting rights in SANYO Electric Co., Ltd. (SANYO) and made SANYO and its subsidiaries into consolidated subsidiaries of the Company.

January 2010

Transferred the business of System Solutions Company, the Company's internal division company, to Panasonic Communications Co., Ltd., which was at the same time renamed Panasonic System Networks Co., Ltd.

April 2011

Made PEW and SANYO into wholly-owned subsidiaries through share-exchanges.

January 2012

Absorbed PEW.

Reorganized domain system to 9 domains and 1 marketing section through business restructuring.

April 2012

Absorbed companies including Panasonic Electronic Devices Co., Ltd.

June 2012

Kazuhiro Tsuga became President of the Company.

October 2012

Established the Corporate Strategy Head Office.

March 2013

Panasonic System Solutions Japan Co., Ltd. absorbed companies including Panasonic System Networks Co., Ltd., and was at the same time renamed Panasonic System Networks Co., Ltd. (Subsequently, following certain reorganizations, in April 2022, merged into Panasonic Connect Co., Ltd.)

April 2013

Transformed to new basic group formation through business division system from business domain system.

Absorbed Panasonic Mobile Communications Co., Ltd. subsequent to carrying out the incorporation-type company split of mobile phone terminal business and transferring mobile phone base station business to Panasonic System Networks Co., Ltd. in the company split.

Delisted from New York Stock Exchange.

March 2014

Transferred all the shares and other related assets of Panasonic Healthcare Co., Ltd. (Subsequently renamed PHC Corporation) to PHC Holdings Co., Ltd. and subscribed 20% of shares of PHC Holdings Co., Ltd. (Subsequently renamed PHC Holdings Corporation and transferred a part of its shares.)

June 2014

Transferred semiconductor business to Panasonic Semiconductor Solutions Co., Ltd. in the company split. (Subsequently, in September 2020, transferred all the shares and other related assets of semiconductor business.)

January 2020

Established Prime Life Technologies Corporation, a joint venture related to a town development business with Toyota Motor Corporation, and transferred all shares of Panasonic Homes Co., Ltd., and other subsidiaries to the joint venture by a joint share transfer.

April 2020

Established Prime Planet Energy & Solutions, Inc., a joint venture automotive prismatic battery business, with Toyota Motor Corporation.

June 2021

Yuki Kusumi became Representative Director and President of the Company.

September 2021

Acquired the additional shares of Blue Yonder Holding, Inc. (its 20% shares were acquired in July 2020) and made Blue Yonder Holding, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company.

October 2021

Started the new virtual in-company structure toward the transition into an "Operating Company" system starting from April 2022.