Panasonic Group's 100-Year Journey

We look back on Panasonic's 100-year history since its founding in 1918, when the company became aware of its "true mission as industrialists" and overcame numerous challenges while carrying out that mission.

	Corporate History	Product Timeline
1894	From birth to the founding of the company
1918	Panasonic launched	Improved Attachment Plug
1920	Establishment of the "Hoichi-Kai"	Double Cluster Socket
1922	First head office and factory established
1923	Bullet-shaped bicycle lamp developed and marketed	Bullet-shaped Battery-powered Bicycle Light
1927	Square bicycle lamp developed and marketed Super iron marketed Communication media published	Super Electric Iron
1929	Management objective and company creed announced
1931	Tradition of celebrating the first shipment of each year instituted Radio production started	First 3-tube Radio
1932	First commemoration of company founding held
1933	New head office and factory constructed in Kadoma Konosuke Matsushita institutes divisional system Motor development and production launched
1934	Employee Training Institute opens	1/2-horsepower, 3-phase Induction Motor
1935	Pricing policy based on co-existence and mutual prosperity philosophy Trading company established Rules and regulations issued
1939	Public tv broadcasts successfully tested
1941	War in the pacific breaks out

	Corporate History	Product Timeline
1945	Up from ashes
1946	Postwar period of hardship
1951	Matsushita makes his first visit to the United States	Agitator-type Washing Machine
1952	Technical cooperation agreement with Philips linked	17-inch Monochrome TV
1951-54	Sales and finance companies established
1953	Construction of the Central Research Laboratory	Electric Refrigerator
1954		5-tube Personal Radio 4-tube 1-band Portable Radio
1956	Announcement of Five-year Plan Beginning of the home appliance era New factories built	Automatic Rice Cooker
1958		Tape Recorder Home Air Conditioner
1959	Establishment of Matsushita Electric Corporation of America (MECA)

	Corporate History	Product Timeline
1961	Overseas manufacturing rapidly built-up 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	Color TV
1962		Facsimile Machine for Office Use (SD/LD Series)
1963	Service Division established
1964	Atami conference held
1965	Reorganization of the sales and distribution network Establishment of the five-day work week
1966	Rapid growth phase entered	Home Microwave Oven
1967		Radio Cassette Recorder
1968	Panasonic's 50th anniversary marked	Zinc Oxide Varistor ZNR
1969	Technological exhibition held	Fully-automated Component Insertion Machine "Panasert"
1970	Pavilion erected at Expo'70 Panasonic meets the consumer movement	Direct-drive Turntable
1971	Panasonic shares traded on NYSE Nixon dollar shock
1973	Konosuke Matsushita retires to the position of executive adviser The oil crisis
1977	The company builds a new management team with Toshihiko Yamashita as president and Masaharu Matsushita as chairman VHS-standard VCR marketed	VHS Video Tape Recorder with up to 4-hour Recording Capability Thin Radio
1979		Paper-thin Battery

	Corporate History	Product Timeline
1982		CD Player
1983	ACTION 86 initiated
1985		VHS Camcorder
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	Notebook Personal Computer
1991	Environmental charter set forth	1/2-inch Broadcasting Digital VTR "D-3" Cellular Phone "Mova P" Rewritable Optical Disc Recorder
1992	Information and Communications Systems Center opens
1993	A new departure under Yoichi Morishita Matsushita Dissolves Partnership with Philips	Bulb-type Fluorescent Lights "Palook ball"
1994		Lithium Ion Rechargeable Battery
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	DVD Player Plasma Display
1997	Introducing the System of Internal Division Companies	DVD Car Navigation System
1998	Celebrating the 80th Anniversary of Our Founding Digital Television Sets Released in the US	DVCPRO Series Video System Portable DVD player Digital TVs for the U.S.
2000	Kunio Nakamura Assumes the Position of President 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 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 Stone Monument Erected to Mark Where Founder Konosuke Matsushita Started the Business
2005	Amagasaki Plant for plasma display panels starts operation
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
2008	Company name change from Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. to "Panasonic Corporation" and corporate brand unified as "Panasonic" worldwide
2009	Making SANYO Electric Co., Ltd. a consolidated subsidiary of Panasonic Corporation
2011	Making Panasonic Electric Works Co., Ltd. and SANYO Electric Co., Ltd. wholly-owned subsidiaries
2012	Kazuhiro Tsuga becomes the president of Panasonic Corporation
2013	President Tsuga delivers a keynote speech at "2013 International CES" Launched the 4-Company system with a business division as the basic unit of management
2014	Relaunched Technics, the business brand exclusively for high-quality audio products Fujisawa Sustainable Smart Town (SST) marked its grand opening
2016	Laying a solid foundation for new business growth
2018	Commemorating the 100th Anniversary of Our Founding

Panasonic Group's 100-Year Journey

Birth of Panasonic

1945-1959

1960-1979

1980-

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