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Panasonic Buys Up Sanyo, Makes Japan's Biggest Electronics Co
Posted by Kit Eaton at 10:40 PM on November 3, 2008
It's been tentative for a while, but the Nikkei is reporting that Panasonic and Sanyo have come to an agreement, and Pansonic's buying up Sanyo. The actual act should be completed by April next year, and will result in one mega-corporation with revenues over ¥11.2 trillion (around $US110 billion)—sounds like enough money to build quite a few mega-robots, or at least several mega-TVs. As part of what will be Japan's biggest electronics company, Sanyo won't be disappearing as a brand though, and Panasonic apparently intends to retain most of Sanyo's employees. [Bloomberg]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
everybest
Posted 12:54 AM 4/11/08
Sweet, more power to Panasonic.
I'm a bigger Panasonic "fanboy" than I am a Sony one :)
everybest
hexydes
Posted 12:52 AM 4/11/08
Interesting. I don't know much about Sanyo, other than they made the first HDTV I bought (30" CRT), and it is still working admirably three years later.
hexydes
robo
Posted 1:45 AM 4/11/08
Panasonic has always made great, reliable products, but they never really made very innovative ones.
robo
rfaulder
Posted 1:34 AM 4/11/08
Every Panasonic device I've owned has exceeding all my expectations. I secretly hope they one day they enter the mp3 player market
rfaulder
MagnoliaBoy
Posted 1:28 AM 4/11/08
I used to have this 40 something inch Sanyo flat screen CRT. The picture on that thing was really impressive (had to pawn it for bail monies...). Hope the merger doesn't effect the product quality.
MagnoliaBoy
sos10 votes NO on prop8
Posted 2:09 AM 4/11/08
@Eric 'Vote 4 Me' Alder: Taco Bell is not a restaurant, it is a diabetes dispenser.
sos10 votes NO on prop8
Eric 'Vote 4 Me' Alder
Posted 2:05 AM 4/11/08
So many companys to merge together, so little time.
I'm reminded of "Demolition Man" where all restaurants were Taco Bell.
Eric 'Vote 4 Me' Alder
Eric 'Vote 4 Me' Alder
Posted 2:28 AM 4/11/08
@sos10 votes NO on prop8: No, that's KFC. (Worst user name ever, by the way!)
Eric 'Vote 4 Me' Alder
reefdweller
Posted 2:41 AM 4/11/08
11.2 trillion yen at current exchange rates is 113.6 Billion USD. Close.
reefdweller
kazemizuhi
Posted 3:09 AM 4/11/08
I hope this means people outside of Japan may finally be able to get their hands on Sanyo's Aqua line of washing machines that use virtually no water at all:
[www.digitalworldtokyo.com]
Checked out their homepage and tried to contact Sanyo here in Australia but to no avail. Such a machine here, where some states are battling water shortages would sell like hotcakes. I don't see why the Aqua range of washing machines hasn't already been made available. Here's hoping.
kazemizuhi
dimension6
Posted 3:07 AM 4/11/08
@rfaulder: They have entered the mp3 market, at least in Japan (I live in Tokyo). I used to have one of these: [panasonic.jp] . It's small, has excellent sound quality, but uses the awful "SD-Audio" format and completely proprietary software to load MP3 files. Again, horrible software ruins excellent Japanese products (I also have a Panasonic 5.1MP camera phone).
dimension6
Scaramanga
Posted 4:22 AM 4/11/08
The reason for this take-over isn't about electronics products (which Sanyo is a relatively minor player in), but on battery production.
With this take-over Panasonic will control the vast majority of the Hybrid and EV battery business. Which will be a HUGE market moving forward (hybrid batteries are insanely expensive and are sold in the millions). Panasonic already supplies Toyota in their Prius, and Sanyo has deals for Ford, Honda, Tesla, future BMW and VWs (on their upcoming EV and hybrid models).
Sanyo has a lot of proprietary NiMH and LiOn battery technology. Not to mention a foot in the solar panel business. The previous CEO of Sanyo (first woman CEO in a Japanese electronics company BTW) turned the company into a green eco-driven company, which she was originally criticized for losing sight of the CE business, but it seems to have found a new life for Sanyo in this changing market.
Scaramanga
sarwatmj
Posted 6:52 AM 4/11/08
@Scaramanga: Very informative, thank you.
sarwatmj