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MANUFACTURINGINTEGRATION


Integrated approach


The Sanyo and Panasonic corporations have an intertwined history that has made the recent acquisition as much a return to the family rather than a hostile takeover. The synergies are not just in the origins with both companies tackling similar markets and have both recently announced their decision to move down a renewable energy path. It was these similarities that saw the takeover receive the scrutiny of antitrust regulators but the companies were able to convince that there were enough differences in their products to go forward with the deal.


T


he Panasonic Corporation was started in 1917, originally known as Matsushita Electronics, and grew to become a major Japanese corporation. After the Second World War the USA government requested that Panasonic be broken up due to the size of the company. The founder of Panasonic was forced to let go of a number of staff including his young brother in law, Toshio lue. Little did the Americans know that this was the instigation for young Toshio to start his own company and Sanyo was born in 1947, initially a maker of bicycle lamps.


Sanyo means three oceans and Toshio imagined a company whose products sailed the three great seas of commerce. The introduction of electrical goods made of cheaper materials, such as plastic radios, soon gave him his wish with Sanyo becoming a global player. The company grew alongside the Japanese electronics industry and in only a few decades the country went from a provider of cheap electronic goods to a global innovator and market leader in the electronics industry.


Sanyo continued to diversify and manufactured a broad range including televisions, computers, batteries, sound systems, bicycles to name but a few. The company first launched its photovoltaic programme in 1975 and began commercial production of the first amorphous silicon solar cell in 1980. The company has continued developing photovoltaic technology and applications including Japan’s first installation of an on-grid photovoltaic


power generating system for residential use.


One aspect of the company’s success turns out to be the products you don’t see. Sanyo is the world leader in re-chargeable batteries and their products infiltrate industries as diverse as the need that mobile power creates. With the two strongest portfolios being energy storage and energy creation it is no surprise that the future for the company, confirmed by returning parent company Panasonic is to become “the No.1 ‘Green Innovation Company’ in the Electronics Industry”.


When the Panasonic takeover was first mooted there was concern in some quarters regarding similarity of products and the companies have gone through extensive competition and antitrust processes in Asia, Europe and the USA. Although they passed all the tests it was not without some losses. The Chinese antitrust was the most difficult with Chinese officials demanding some divesting of


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Energy for automobiles is expected to be a major growth area


www.solar-pv-management.com Issue I 2011


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