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History of the manufacturer  

Panasonic, Matsushita, National ナショナル (also tubes); Osaka

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Name: Panasonic, Matsushita, National ナショナル (also tubes); Osaka    (J)  
Abbreviation: panasonic
Products: Model types Tube manufacturer
Summary:

Panasonic Corporation was founded in 1918 in Osaka, Japan as Matsushita Electric Housewares Manufacturing Works. Numerous other Matsushita companies were founded, spun off, re-acquired and merged in the course of the years. In 2013, most of them are consolidated under Panasonic.

Headquarters in 2013:
Panasonic Corporation
1006, Oaza Kadoma, Kadoma-shi
Osaka 571-8501, Japan

Panasonic is considered the biggest company in Japan for electric household supply.

Brands: National, National Panasonic, Panasonic, Technics.

They have numerous production facilities and subsidiaries around the world.

Founded: 1918
Production: 1931 -
History:

Matsushita
The first incarnation of what is today Panasonic was a small shop in Osaka, where Konosuke Matsushita (27. Nov. 1894 Wasa - 27. Apr. 1989 Tokyo), his wife and his brother-in-law Toshio Iue (later founder of Sanyo) manufactured light sockets.

Matsushita Electric Housewares Manufacturing Works was set up on March 7, 1918. In 1928, the company's monthly sales already exceeded 100,000 Yen with an employee number of over 300. In the following year they renamed to Matsushita Electric Manufacturing Works.

In 1931, the joint venture Kokudo Electric was founded together with the manufacturer Futaba to produce radios. The production was not successful due to many returns, so Matsushita took control of Kokudo in 1931. After 3 months of development, a 3-tube radio set could be presented in the same year (R-31 or R-1). It won first prize in a contest sponsored by Japan's public broadcasting station and was comparatively highly priced at 45 Yen.

In the same year, Matsushita set up an export department and began printing catalogs in English.

In 1935 the company manufactured 600 different kinds of products. Exports grew and the Matsushita Electric Trading Co. was set up. The employee base rose to 3500.

Matsushita launched their own television R&D department in 1935, prompted by the experimental work of Kenjiro Takayanagi of the Hamamatsu Vocational College. The laboratory produced a first 12" prototype TV set in 1938, which successfully received test broadcasts from the Tokyo Broadcast Center in 1939.

By 1942 Matsushita had become the biggest radio manufacturer in Japan with a market share of 30% and a monthly production output of 30,000 sets.

In December 1952 a new company Matsushita Electronics Corporation was established after Matsushita entered a technical cooperation agreement with Philips who held a 35% share in the new company. The agreements was terminated after 41 years in 1993.

The first commercial Matsushita TV receiver (17K-531) was introduced in the end of 1952, some months ahead of the start of regular Japanese television broadcasting.

National (Katakana: ナショナル, nashyonaru)
The National brand was registered in 1925, initially for their very successful bicycle lamp with battery. In 1936, the National logo with Japanese lettering was introduced, and in 1959 the known National-Logo was adapted as a trade mark, still with Japanese lettering.

Panasonic
When entering the US market, Matsushita could not use the National brand, since it was already in use there. The first imported devices were therefore sold under the name Matsushita. 1955 saw the first appearance of Pana Sonic as a name for speakers (domestic model EAS-20PW09). Successively the brand Panasonic was established.

National Panasonic
Until ca. 1985, equipment was sold in Europe under the brand National. A few years before, Matsushita had begun to combine National and Panasonic, using the National-Logo together with the lettering National Panasonic.

Technics
In 1965, Technics was first used for domestic high-end speakers (8P-W1). In the beginning of the 1970s, Technics was already a well-established brand catering to the Hi-Fi market, and it was hugely successful. It was continued to be used as a brand for DJ products only from 2000 on and was phased out entirely in 2010.
In the course of the time, Panasonic was affiliated with or owner of different brands and companies:

  • National Storage Battery Co. founded in 1935 for the production of dry cells.
  • National Electric Lamp Co. founded in 1935, producing light bulbs.
  • In 1953, Matsushita acquired the majority of shares of the JVC Japan Victor Corporation. JVC was a partner in the joint development of the VHS video tape system. The first Matsushita VCRs were marketed under the McLeod or MacLoard brand (existing from ca. 1977 to ca. 1989). JVC was eventually spun off and merged with Kenwood Electronics in 2008 to form the JVC Kenwood Holdings company.
  • In 1989, the Beijing Matsushita Color CRT Co. started production with 1,400 employees, first producing 21" color CRTs and later all major sizes of screens.
  • Hong-Kong based company Shun Hing Electric Works and Engineering Co. Ltd. started in 1976 as an importer for Panasonic and now manufactures home appliances and AV products under the Rasonic brand - which is clearly derived from the Panasonic logo.
  • In 2003 it was decided that the global brand would be unified as Panasonic. This was accompanied by changing regional product brands in SE Asia, China and the Middle East as well. In Japan, National was continued be used until it phasing out in 2010.

    The name of the company was changed to Panasonic Corporation in 2008. The following year, Sanyo (founded by Toshio Iue in 1949) was made a consolidated subsidiary. It was fully owned in 2011, and the brand finally phased out in 2012.


    Some models:
    Country Year Name 1st Tube Notes
    60 National 2-Band 8-Transistor T-40 2SA102  Three rhinestones on the front badge. Another transistor line-up: MC102 MC103 M... 
    66 R-1062 2SA102  With soft leather carrying case. 
    67–71 National Panasonic 6 Band 12 Transistor R-3000 2SA341  National Model R3000 A 12 transistor, 6-band portable radio in an attractive case. F... 
    80 8 Track Player RQ-831   Panasonic 8 Track Player with FM-AM Radio Model RQ-831. 
    90 FM-AM-FM Stereo Headphone Receiver RF-H8   Panasonic SoundBand™ FM-AM-FM Stereo Headphone Receiver Model RF-H8. Radio-High-... 
    88 FM-AM Radio Cassette Recorder RX-1680   Panasonic FM-AM Radio Frontloading Cassette Recorder Model RX-1680 (Boombox) Car... 
    71/72 National Panasonic R-206J   National Model R-206 A 7-transistor, 2-band portable. Tuning range: MW, 525 -1605 kHz; ... 
    62 T-82L 2SA71  Internal ferrite antenna. Jack for external antenna. Jack for earphones and loudspeaker... 
    66 All Transistor TV TR-912 1X2B  SW-Fernsehgerät, tragbar; Bilddiagonale 21 cm; Bereiche VHF + UHF. 28 Transist... 
    63 T-211L 2SA102  Release date in UK 1964, price 10gns. 
    77 Panasonic DR22 RF-2200BS   Shortwave coverage: 3900 - 28000 kHz, AM/SSB (BFO), FM on VHF. Analog frequency ... 
    78 DR 28 RF-2800 LBS   shortwave coverage 3200 - 30000 kHz, AM/SSB(BFO), FM on VHF, blue fluorescent digital freq... 

    [rmxhdet-en]

    Further details for this manufacturer by the members (rmfiorg):

    1965tbn_j_national_1965_logo.jpg
    tbn_j_panasonic_firmenlogo.jpg
    Die Luftaufnahme zeigt die Produktionsstätte für National-Fernsehgeräte um 1963.tbn_j_panasonic_firma_1963.jpg
    Logo in 1974.tbn_j_panasonic_national_logo.jpg
    Logo in 1986.tbn_j_panasonic_national_logo1.jpg
    Logo in 1976.tbn_j_national_logo_in1976.jpg
    tbn_logo_0.gif
    Werbung in der Funkschau 1963, Heft 16tbn_j_national_werbung_1963.jpg
    Ganzseitige Annoce im Merian - Heft 10 / 41 vom Oktober 1988. Der auf dem Bild dargestellte Video - Rekorder ist ein NV- H75.tbn_j_panasonic_reklame1988.jpg
    Ganzseitige Annonce im Merian - Heft 3 / 45 vom März 1992.tbn_j_panasonic_viedeorecorder_reklame.jpg
    Panasonic_Brand_Name_Historytbn_panaonic_brandnamehistory.jpg
    tbn_img_2424.jpg
    Matsushita-Logo auf Germanium-Transistorgehäusetbn_matsushita_logo_1.jpg
    tbn_j_panasonic_81_82.jpg
    tbn_j_panasonic_national_tape_recorders_1974.jpg
    tbn_j_panasonic_national_tape_recorders_1974_p2.jpg
    Prospekt 1972tbn_national_autoradioprospekt.jpg
    Panasonic Print Ad 1975tbn_j_panasonic_techseries_print_ad.jpg
    tbn_j_panasonic_stereo_to_go_printad_1982.jpg
    tbn_j_panasonic_supremeseries_printad_1982.jpg
    tbn_j_panasonic_portablevideo_printad_1982.jpg
    tbn_j_panasonic_thrusters_printad_1979.jpg
    tbn_j_national_gesamtprogramm_1973.jpg
    tbn_j_panasonic_matched_components.jpg
    tbn_j_panasonic_systems_5000.jpg
    tbn_j_panasonic_thrusters.jpg
    tbn_j_panasonic_tv_ad.jpg
    tbn_j_panasonic_printad.jpg
    tbn_j_panasonic_rf519v_front_logo.jpg
    Early Domestic logotbn_national_panasonic_early_domestic.png
    Thanks for technical assistance Első Zalai Rádiómúzeum Alapítvány ( radio-muzeum.hu), First Zala County Radio Museum Foundation, Hungary, Zalaegerszeg.tbn_j_panasonic_logo_1960_61.jpg
    Thanks for technical assistance Első Zalai Rádiómúzeum Alapítvány ( radio-muzeum.hu), First Zala County Radio Museum Foundation, Hungary, Zalaegerszeg.tbn_j_panasonic_logo1_1960_61.jpg
    Thanks for technical assistance Első Zalai Rádiómúzeum Alapítvány ( radio-muzeum.hu), First Zala County Radio Museum Foundation, Hungary, Zalaegerszeg.tbn_j_panasonic_advert_1960_61.jpg
    tbn_j_panasonic_tr525es_logo.jpg
    tbn_j_panasonic_shortwaveantenna_name_logo.jpg
    Hersteller-Dokutbn_j_panasonic_radio_cassette_radio.jpg
    Manufacturer documentationtbn_j_panasonic_national_sales_brochure.jpg
    Manufacturer documentationtbn_j_panasonic_platinum_serie.jpg
    tbn_national_japan_logo.jpg
    tbn_j_panasonic_6f22r_0006p_logo.jpg

      

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