In 1918 Konosuke Matsushita set up a company that he called Matsushita. At first he traded from the upstairs rooms of his two storey house where he manufactured electric products. Many years later the products were branded Panasonic.

Panasonic soon out grew the upstairs rooms and had to move to a large unit in 1920 which enabled them to manufacture more products. Their products were soon appreciated for their innovation, design, quality and value. One of the first items that they manufactured was an adaptor that allowed 2 light bulbs to be plugged into one socket which was the only one of its type at the time. By 1922 Panasonic had to move to a larger factory because of the success of the products that they manufactured.

In 1923 Konosuke Matsushita designed a bullet shaped bicycle lamp that had a battery life that was ten times longer than a conventional light. The light was a very popular and successful product.

During 1927 Panasonic started manufacturing their first electric iron that was at a price that many could afford.

By 1931 Panasonic began to manufacture a product that they are more known for today. They designed and manufactured an award winning radio that had 3 tubes, the R31. Panasonic patented part of its design and then allowed other manufacturers to use their innovative design to encourage the expansion of the radio industry.

By 1952 Panasonic had designed an affordable television that had a unique rectangular cathode ray tube (CRT) design instead of a round one. After this all television screens have had rectangular screens. Panasonic were also researching video recorder technology during the 1950s.

In 1960 Panasonic manufactured their first mass produced colour cathode ray tube television.

During 1991 Panasonic manufactured the first rewriteable optical disc recorder for television images which was a forerunner to the DVD recorder. They also made a commitment to environmental responsibility in 1991 with an environmental charter.

Panasonic now hold over 40000 patents in Japan and a further 54000 outside of Japan. They produce in excess of 15000 products which distribute to virtually every country in the world. Panasonic employ 306000 people within 600 companies and by value they are the fifth biggest electronic manufacturer in the world. During 2007 they filed 2007 patents which were more patents than any other company in the world.

Throughout its history Panasonic has innovated with designs that improve on other products that are available in the market. Their products are always high quality and provide solutions to everyday problems for ordinary peoples life. By not accepting the normal ways of doing things Panasonic has consistently produced ground breaking products that are better than others in the market.