Matsushita
Logo for the Panasonic brand
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (Japanese: 松下電器産業株式会社) is an electronics manufacturer based in Kadoma, Osaka prefecture, Japan.
It was founded by Konosuke Matsushita in 1918, with its first product being a duplex electrical outlet. In 1927, it produced a bicycle lamp, the first product it marketed under the brand name National. Since then, it has become the largest Japanese electronics producer and competes mainly with Sony, Toshiba and Philips. In addition to electronics Matsushita offers non-electronic products and services such as home renovation services.
Brands and divisions
Matsushita produces electronic products under a variety of names, including:
- Panasonic (home appliances for the overseas market, personal electronics, audio/video equipment, microchips, automotive components)
- National (home appliances for the Japanese market)
- Nais (components for automated systems)
- Quasar (televisions and video equipment)
- Technics (audio equipment)
Matsushita is also the controlling stockholder of the Japan Victor Company (JVC), which it purchased in 1953.
History
Matsushita was founded in 1918 and operated factories in Japan and Asia through the end of World War II, producing simple electrical components such as light fixtures, motors, and electric irons.
In 1951, Konosuke Matsushita traveled to the United States and met with American dealers. Matsushita began producing cheap television sets for the U.S. market under the Panasonic brand name, and signed a cooperative venture with Philips the following year in order to incorporate more advanced Western technologies into its products.
During the mid-1950s, Matsushita allied with several other Japanese electronics producers, including Sharp, Toshiba, Sanyo, and Hitachi, to establish a cartel that fixed prices for consumer electronics sold within the closed market of Japan. Protected financially by its huge domestic profits, Matsushita then sold television sets and other electronics in the United States at very low prices, with the silent approval of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry. In order to avoid accusations of dumping from American manufacturers, Matsushita set the official prices of its export products at higher rates than their retail prices, compensating sales outlets by sending them cash refunds through foreign banks.
In the early 1970s, Japanese consumer groups began protesting the domestic electronics cartel in Japan, and American electronics producers stepped up their accusations of dumping. However, both governments refused to take action on the issue because of Cold War collective security considerations. Robert Strauss, who became United States Trade Representative in 1977, eventually reached a secret agreement with the Japanese government in 1980 that would restrict television exports to the United States in return for granting immunity from prosecution for Matsushita and other exporters. However, by 1980, most U.S. television manufacturers had gone out of business.
During the 1980s, Matsushita expanded further in the U.S. market, purchasing Quasar from Motorola in 1986 and purchasing MCA-Universal in 1989. The company became a major target of anti-Japanese sentiment among workers in the United States. However, the Japanese stock market crash of 1989–1990 caused Matsushita's international power to wane: the company sold many of its foreign assets in the 1990s, including Universal (to Edgar Bronfman, Jr. of Seagram's).
See also
et:Matsushita ja:松下電器産業
Categories: Companies of Japan