see your name here . this article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in japanese . september 2012 click show for important translation instructions . view a machine translated version of the japanese article . google s machine translation is a useful starting point for translations but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate rather than simply copy pasting machine translated text into the english wikipedia . do not translate text that appears unreliable or low quality . if possible verify the text with references provided in the foreign language article . after translating translated ja must be added to the talk page to ensure copyright compliance . for more guidance see wikipedia translation . panasonic corporation a better life a better world headquarters in osaka japan native name formerly called matsushita electric industrial co. ltd. 1918 2008 type public traded as tyo 6752 nag 6752 otc pink pcrfy pse pmpc industry electronics semiconductors home appliances founded march 13 1918 ; 98 years ago 1918 03 13 osaka japan founder konosuke matsushita headquarters kadoma osaka japan area served worldwide key people shusaku nagae chairman masayuki matsushita vice chairman kazuhiro tsuga president products see products listing revenue 7.715 trillion 2015 1 operating income 325.8 billion 2015 1 profit 179.4 billion 2015 1 total assets 5.956 trillion 2015 1 total equity 1.823 trillion 2015 1 number of employees 254 084 q3 2015 2 divisions panasonic corporation of north america us subsidiaries panasonic avionics corporation panasonic electric works universal lighting technologies kawakita denki kigyosha sanyo electric co. ltd. anchor electricals pvt. ltd. website panasonic.com footnotes references a b c d e annual report 2015 pdf press release . panasonic corporation . march 31 2013 . retrieved 29 december 2014 . panasonic corp . bloomberg businessweek . 29 december 2014 . retrieved 2014 12 29 . panasonic corporation panasonikku kabushiki gaisha formerly known as matsushita electric industrial co. ltd. matsushita denki sangy kabushiki gaisha is a japanese multinational electronics corporation headquartered in kadoma osaka japan . 1 the company was founded in 1918 and has grown to become one of the largest japanese electronics producers alongside sony hitachi toshiba 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 . 2 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 . contents 1 name 2 history 2.1 1918 to 2000 2.2 2000 to present 3 current operations 3.1 panasonic automotive systems 3.2 panasonic avionics corporation 3.3 panasonic mobile communications 3.4 panasonic corporation of north america 3.5 panasonic europe 3.6 panasonic india 3.7 panasonic corporation in indonesia 4 former operations 4.1 universal studios 5 products 6 brand names 7 sponsorships 7.1 football 7.2 other 8 environmental record 9 slogans 10 see also 11 references 12 further reading 13 external links name edit from 1935 to october 1 2008 the company name was matsushita electric industrial co. ltd. 3 4 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 . 5 the name change was approved at a shareholders meeting on june 26 2008 after consultation with the matsushita family . 6 history edit 1918 to 2000 edit panasonic was founded in 1918 by konosuke matsushita as a vendor of duplex lamp sockets . 7 in 1927 it began producing bicycle lamps the first product which it marketed under the brand name national . during world war ii the company operated factories in japan and other parts of asia which produced electrical components and appliances such as light fixtures motors electric irons wireless equipment and its first vacuum tubes . 8 after the war panasonic regrouped as a keiretsu and began to supply the post war boom in japan with radios and appliances as well as bicycles . matsushita s brother in law toshio iue founded sanyo as a subcontractor for components after world war ii . sanyo grew to become a competitor to panasonic but was later acquired by panasonic in december 2009 . in 1961 konosuke matsushita traveled to the united states and met with american dealers . the company began producing television sets for the u.s. market under the panasonic brand name and expanded the use of the brand to europe in 1979 . 9 the company used the national brand outside of north america from the 1950s to the 1970s the trademark could not be used in the united states because it was already in use by the national radio company in a closely related product area . it sold televisions vhs vcrs high fidelity stereo receivers multi band shortwave radios and marine radio direction finders often exported to north america under various u.s. brand names such as technics emerson curtis mathes and of course panasonic . the company also developed a line of home appliances such as rice cookers for the japanese and asian markets . rapid growth resulted in the company opening manufacturing plants around the world . the company debuted a hi fidelity audio speaker in japan in 1965 with the brand technics . this line of high quality stereo components became worldwide favorites . the most famous products being its turntables such as the sl 1200 record player known for its high performance precision and durability . throughout the 1970s and early 1980s panasonic continued to produce high quality specialized electronics for niche markets such as shortwave radios as well as developing a successful line of stereo receivers cd players and other components . in 1973 matsushita formed a joint venture with anam group anam national . in 1983 matsushita launched the panasonic senior partner the first fully ibm pc compatible japanese made computer . 10 in november 1990 matsushita agreed to acquire the american media company mca inc. for us 6.59 billion . 11 12 matsushita subsequently sold 80 % of mca to seagram company for us 7 billion in april 1995 . 13 14 2000 to present edit a 152 inch panasonic plasma display on show at ifa 2010 on may 2 2002 panasonic canada marked its 35th anniversary in that country by giving 5 million to help build a music city on toronto s waterfront . 15 on january 19 2006 panasonic announced that it would stop producing analog televisions then 30 % of its total tv business from the next month in order to concentrate on digital televisions . 16 in 2008 all models of electric shavers from the panasonic factory were called panasonic shavers and they dropped matsushita and national from their name regardless of world wide or japanese markets . 17 on november 3 2008 panasonic and sanyo announced that they were holding merger talks which eventually resulted in the acquisition of sanyo by panasonic . 18 19 the merger was completed in december 2009 and resulted in a corporation with revenues of over 11.2 trillion around 110 billion . 20 with the announcement that pioneer would exit the production of its kuro plasma hdtv displays panasonic purchased many of the patents and incorporated these technologies into its own plasma displays . in april 2011 it was announced that panasonic would cut its work force by 40 000 by the end of fiscal 2012 in a bid to streamline overlapping operations . the curtailment is about 10 percent of its group work force . 21 in october 2011 panasonic announced that it would trim its money losing tv business by ceasing production of plasma tvs at its plant in amagasaki hyogo prefecture by march 2012 cutting 1 000 jobs in the process . 22 in january 2012 panasonic announced that it had struck a deal with myspace on its new venture myspace tv . 23 myspace tv will allow users to watch live television while chatting with other users on a laptop tablet or the television itself . with the partnership myspace tv will be integrated into panasonic viera televisions . 24 on may 11 2012 panasonic announced plans to acquire a 76.2 % stake in firepro systems an india based company in infrastructure protection and security solutions such as fire alarm fire suppression video surveillance and building management . 25 in line with company prediction of a net loss of 765 billion yen on november 5 2012 the shares fell to the lowest level since february 1975 to 388 yen . in 2012 the shares plunged 41 percent . 26 on november 14 2012 panasonic said it will cut 10 000 jobs and make further divestments . 27 on may 18 2013 panasonic announced that it would invest 40 million in building a factory in binh duong vietnam which is expected to be completed in 2014 . 28 in july 2013 panasonic agreed to acquire a 13 % stake in the slovenian household appliance manufacturer gorenje for around 10 million . 29 in a press release following its announcement at ifa 2013 panasonic announced that it had acquired the cameramanager video surveillance service with the intention of expanding its reach to cloud based solutions . 30 in july 2014 it was announced that panasonic has reached a basic agreement with tesla motors to participate in the gigafactory the huge battery plant that the american electric vehicle manufacturer plans to build in the u.s. 31 in august 2014 tesla said the plant would be built in the southwest or western united states by 2020 . the 5 billion plant would employ 6 500 people and reduce tesla s battery costs by 30 percent . the company said it was looking at potential sites in nevada arizona texas new mexico and california . 32 in october 2014 panasonic announced its initial investment in tesla motors battery factory would amount to tens of billions of yen according to the firm s ceo . 33 in november 2014 panasonic announced its partnership with photon interactive to create customized and personalized digital signs in stores . 34 in january 2015 panasonic announced it has stopped making tvs in china and plans to liquidate its joint venture in shandong . 35 in march 2015 panasonic announced plans to buy houston based satellite communication service provider itc global . 36 in april 2015 panasonic announced its new range of products and relaunched its brand in south africa . the company intends to use south africa as a springboard into africa with nigeria and egypt as its initial targets . 37 in june 2015 panasonic struck agreements with three australian energy utilities red energy ergon energy and actewagl to trial its home based battery storage options . 38 in november 2015 the panasonic corporation announced that it set up a new plant in suzhou china through its subsidiary panasonic ecology systems co. ltd to produce a new type of catalyst coated diesel particulate filter dpf that decomposes matter contained in diesel engine exhaust gas . 39 in november 2015 panasonic corporation start to retail locally harvested produce from its indoor agriculture facility salads via veggie life branding in singapore from the very first licensed indoor vegetable farm in the country using panasonic s own technology . 40 in february 2016 panasonic and the city of denver formed a formal partnership to make denver the smartest city in america . joseph m. taylor chairman and ceo of panasonic corp. of america laid out the plans for the partnership in four key areas smart housing and small offices energy and utilities transportation and city services and smart buildings . 41 due to increased competition from china panasonic s liion auto market share decreased from 47 % in 2014 to 34 % in 2015 . 42 in june 2016 tesla motors inc. announced that