Manufacturing · Profile from Manufacturing Research Companion: Companies, Strategic Moves, and Technical Studies
Panasonic
The Osaka electronics group that Konosuke Matsushita founded in 1918 (from memory, verify), that grew into one of Japan's largest makers of televisions, appliances and components, that lost hundreds of billions of yen on plasma TVs and the Sanyo purchase around 2009–13 (FY2009 net loss ¥379.0bn — SEC 6-K; the 2012–13 losses from memory, verify), and that rebuilt itself around a single customer relationship: since 2014 it has been Tesla's main US cell partner at Gigafactory Nevada in Sparks (~41 GWh a year, reported) and, since Jul 2025, the owner of a ~$4bn battery plant in De Soto, Kansas designed for ~32 GWh a year. Its US story also includes Blue Yonder, the Scottsdale supply-chain software company it bought outright in 2021 ($5.6bn for 80%, ~$7.1bn incl. debt — Supply chain KB). In the year to 31 Mar 2026 its net profit fell 45.6% to ¥208,975m after restructuring under "Group Management Reform", including ~10,000 job cuts announced in 2025 (company; press). Its manufacturing story turns on a conglomerate's battery bet tied to one customer's cycle, US production credits that became a large share of segment profit, and a plant opened into an EV slowdown.
At a glance
- Founded
- 1918, Osaka, as Matsushita Electric Housewares Manufacturing Works (from memory, verify); renamed Panasonic Corporation 2008 (from memory, verify); Panasonic Holdings Corporation since the 2022 move to a holding-company structure (from memory, verify date)
- Founder
- Konosuke Matsushita (1894–1989, from memory, verify)
- Headquarters
- Kadoma, Osaka (from memory, verify); Panasonic Energy of North America in Sparks, Nevada and De Soto, Kansas; Blue Yonder in Scottsdale, Arizona (Supply chain KB)
- Ownership / structure
- Listed (Tokyo); holding company over operating companies including Panasonic Energy, Panasonic Connect (incl. Blue Yonder), Panasonic Automotive (partly sold, from memory, verify), Panasonic Industry and the appliance businesses (from memory, verify structure)
- Leadership (2026)
- Yuki Kusumi, group CEO since 2021 (Supply chain KB; title verify)
- Scale
- FY2026 (to 31 Mar 2026): net profit ¥208,975m (−45.6%); Energy segment sales up and profit down, with higher IRA credits and data-centre storage demand (company summary; press). One report put Energy's Jul–Sep 2025 operating profit at ~¥1bn on ~¥227bn of revenue including ~¥24bn of IRA credits (single report, verify). Workforce ~230,000 before the ~10,000 cuts (reported)
- US footprint
- Sparks, Nevada — cell lines inside Tesla's Gigafactory since 2017 (~41 GWh a year, reported); De Soto, Kansas — ~$4bn, 2170 cells, opened Jul 2025, ~32 GWh planned (reported); Blue Yonder, Scottsdale; other component and device businesses (verify)
- Signature moves (incl. failures)
- Matsushita's 250-year mission (1932); the Sanyo purchase and the 2012–13 losses (failure); Gigafactory Nevada with Tesla (2014–17); Blue Yonder (2021); De Soto, Kansas (2022–26); IRA 45X credits in operating profit (2023–26); Wakayama 4680 line (2022–24); the ~10,000 job cuts and Group Management Reform (2025–26)
8 strategic moves analysed
Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.
1932
Matsushitas 250 Year Mission
Founding philosophy / production-system and organisation change
2009
Sanyo Acquisition and the 2012 13 Losses
Acquisition, then restructuring (failure)
2014
Gigafactory Nevada Partnership with Tesla
Supplier contract / new plant (cell lines in a jointly used building)
2021
Blue Yonder Acquisition
Acquisition (software)
2022
De Soto Kansas Battery Plant
New plant (greenfield); delayed ramp
2023
IRA 45X Credits in Operating Profit
Government subsidy (production tax credit)
2024
Wakayama 4680 Line
Technology bet / new line
2025
10000 Job Cuts and Group Management Reform
Restructuring