Market cap

* For banks, enterprise value is substituted with market cap. Source: Bloomberg Finance L.P.

Performance of the brand

The Panasonic Corporation is a multi-national electronics manufacturer which was founded in 1918 as Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. As Japan’s largest consumer electronics manufacturer it is a global leader in the manufacture of home electronics and appliances, semiconductors, audio equipment and communications equipment. The company also produces industrial robots, medical and welfare facilities among other things.

In the 2011 September update of the BrandFinance Global 500, Panasonic fell 23 places to 87^th due to falling forecasts of the company’s future business prospects. The large fall in Panasonic’s brand value was precipitated by the Earthquake in Japan, in the first half of 2011, which disrupted supplies and in conjunction with other economic factors such as a stronger Yen led to reduced sales for the company. Simultaneously the company was in the midst of a large scale restructuring process which involved a large number of lay-offs and incurred a significant cost. The cumulative effect of these events was to have a severely negative impact on Panasonic’s brand value, which fell by almost $3 billion to $9.6 billion – a 25% loss.

The brand itself has experienced a number of changes in recent years as Panasonic elected to consolidate its global brand. Formerly, Panasonic traded globally through a number of different brands including National, Panasonic and Technics. However, in 2008 the company took the decision to trade solely as Panasonic in order to develop a far stronger core brand which would help it compete more effectively with its key rivals like Sony and Hitachi. Panasonic had consistently been the most popular of Matsushita’s exports brands and the decision was also intended to help boost stagnant sales at home. The company traded under the National brand in Japan and it was hoped that the corporate rebrand would boost sales abroad and refresh its sluggish domestic business.

The rebrand cost the company around $400 million, but it helped merge the company's disparate brands into a single, globally recognized name.

League tables

Panasonic appears in the following brand league tables:

Rank 94 in the Global 500 2012.
Rank 64 in the Global 500 2011.
Rank 64 in the Global 500 2011.
Rank 158 in the Global 500 2010.
Rank 114 in the Global 500 2009.
Rank 150 in the Global 500 2008.
Rank 120 in the Global 250 2007.