Helping to ease consumer confusion
Founded by Konosuke Matsushita in 1918, Matsushita has carried the name of its creator for some 90 years and has now announced plans to change its name from Matsushita to Panasonic.
The company, ranked 59th in the world in 2007 by the Forbes Global 500, manufacturers products worldwide under different brand names such as Panasonic and Technics.
Fumio Ohtsubo, Matsushita President, states that holding on to the Matsushita name had hampered the global image of the company and reduced the strength of its brand as a whole. Matsushita is for the most part unheard of outside of its native Japan, and is more commonly known as Panasonic, a name through which the company sells most of its products.
"Rather than festering in nostalgia, we must make a decision for Matsushita's future," said Fumio Ohtsubo. "This time, we are taking up the challenge toward global excellence."
Though the name change looks set to go ahead, it will first require approval at a shareholder's meeting in June and if successful, Matsushita will officially become Panasonic on October 1st 2008.
