Panasonic

Panasonic Corporation (パナソニック株式会社 Panasonikku Kabushiki-gaisha), formerly known as Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (松下電器産業株式会社 Matsushita Denki Sangyō Kabushiki-gaisha), is a Japanese multinational electronics corporation headquartered in Kadoma, Osaka, Japan.

The company was founded in 1918 as a producer of lightbulb sockets and has grown to become one of the largest Japanese electronics producers alongside Sony, Hitachi, Toshiba, Pioneer and Canon Inc. In addition to electronics, it offers non-electronic products and services such as home renovation services. Panasonic is the world’s fourth-largest television manufacturer by 2012 market share.

Panasonic has a primary listing on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the Nikkei 225 and TOPIX indices. It has a secondary listing on the Nagoya Stock Exchange.

From 1935 to October 1, 2008, the company name was “Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.” On January 10, 2008, the company announced that it would change its name to “Panasonic Corporation”, in effect on October 1, 2008, to conform with its global brand name “Panasonic”. The name change was approved at a shareholders’ meeting on June 26, 2008 after consultation with the Matsushita family.