Beginnings Sanyo was founded when
Toshio Iue, the brother-in-law of
Konosuke Matsushita and also a former
Matsushita employee, was lent an unused Matsushita plant in 1947 and used it to make bicycle generator lamps. Sanyo was incorporated in 1949; it made Japan's first
plastic radio in 1952 and Japan's first pulsator-type
washing machine in 1954. Under Ladd's leadership, the Fisher Corporation under Sanyo grew to be a multi-million dollar leader in the consumer
electronics industry. The new, profitable Fisher Corporation moved its headquarters from New York to Ladd's Los Angeles. Ladd was named president and CEO of the combined Sanyo / Fisher Corporation in 1977, serving until 1987. Ladd was instrumental at Sanyo in promoting
Quadraphonic sound audio equipment for the American market, producing 4-channel audio equipment in both
discrete and
matrix formats. He said "we make all kinds of quadrasonic equipment because this is the business we're in... let the consumer buy the kind of software he prefers and we'll provide him the hardware to play it on". Sanyo realized tremendous growth during Ladd's tenure in the 1970s; annual sales grew from $71.4 million () in 1972 to $855 million () in 1978. In 1986, Sanyo's U.S. affiliate merged with Fisher to become Sanyo Fisher (U.S.A.) Corporation (later renamed Sanyo Fisher Company). The mergers made the entire organization more efficient, but also resulted in the departure of certain key executives, including Ladd, who had first introduced the Sanyo name to the United States in the early 1970s. In 1983, it introduced the
MBC-550 PC, the lowest-cost
IBM PC compatible personal computer available at the time, but its lack of full compatibility hurt Sanyo in the PC marketplace. Sanyo would eventually produce two portable PCS, the MBC-670 mono screen and the MBC-770, the first color portable PC. Unlke the 550, these PCs were 70-90% compatible with the IBM PC.
1990s corporate culture An article on "Sanyo Style" written in 1992 described that Sanyo utilizes an extensive socialization process for new employees, so that they will be acclimatized to Sanyo's corporate culture. New employees take a five-month course during which they eat together and sleep together in accommodation. They learn everything from basic job requirements to company expectations for
personal grooming and the appropriate way in which to dress for their co-workers and superiors. Technologically, Sanyo has had good ties with
Sony, supporting the
Betamax video format from invention until the mid-1980s (the best selling video recorder in the UK in 1983 was the Sanyo VTC5000), while producing the
VHS video format at the same time for the
Fisher brand during the early 1980s, and later being an early adopter of the highly successful
Video8 camcorder format. More recently, though, Sanyo decided against supporting Sony's format, the
Blu-ray Disc, and instead gave its backing to
Toshiba's
HD DVD. This was ultimately unsuccessful, however, as Sony's Blu-ray triumphed. In North America, Sanyo manufactured
CDMA cellular phones exclusively for
Sprint's Sprint PCS brand in the United States and for Bell Mobility in Canada.
Acquisition The
2004 Chūetsu earthquake severely damaged Sanyo's semiconductor plant and as a result Sanyo recorded a huge financial loss for that year. The 2005 fiscal year financial results saw a 205 billion yen net income loss. The same year the company announced a restructuring plan called the Sanyo Evolution Project, launching a new corporate vision to make the corporation into an environmental company, plowing investment into strong products like
rechargeable batteries, solar
photovoltaics,
air conditioning,
hybrid car batteries and key
consumer electronics such as the
Xacti camera, projectors and
mobile phones.
Products File:Sanyo VPC-S760 digatal camera.jpg|Sanyo VPC-S760 digital camera File:SANYO AIR CONDITIONER OUTDOOR UNIT.jpg|Sanyo outdoor air conditioning unit File:SANYO WINDOW TYPE AIR CONDITIONER OUTDOOR UNIT (2).jpg|Sanyo window-type outdoor AC unit File:Sanyo CZ-8127 (68) capacitor in Sanyo pocket calculator.jpg|Capacitor from a Sanyo CZ-8127 calculator File:Sanyo Electric (Taiwan) SD-76U 20170606.jpg|Sanyo SD-76U washing machine File:Магнитола Sanyo m9830k.jpg|Sanyo M9830K radio cassette recorder File:Marantz CD 94 II - Sanyo LB1645.jpg|Sanyo LB1645
IC File:Sanyo ICC0081.jpg|Sanyo ICC-0081 calculator File:An abandoned CRT TV from Sanyo (2024-01-03).jpg|Sanyo-brand CRT TV File:Sanyo katana connecting to the internet - mar 2022.jpg|
Sanyo Katana (SCP-6600) File:Sanyo Cell Phone sold by Boost Mobile connected to the internet - may 2021.jpg|Sanyo Juno (SCP-2700) File:W51SA Modern Black Sanyo KDDI Open.jpg|Sanyo W51SA File:My old cell phone - pink Sanyo Sprint phone from 2006 (8730248042).jpg|Sanyo SCP-3100 Sanyo also remains the world number one producer of rechargeable batteries. Recent product innovations in this area include the
Eneloop Low self-discharge NiMH battery, a "hybrid" rechargeable NiMH (
Nickel-metal hydride battery) which, unlike typical NiMH cells, can be used from-the-package without an initial recharge cycle and retain a charge significantly longer than batteries using standard NiMH battery design. The Eneloop line competes against similar products such as
Rayovac's "Hybrid Rechargeable" line. On November 24, 2006, Sanyo announced heavy losses and job cuts.
Tomoyo Nonaka, a former
NHK anchorwoman who was appointed chairwoman of the company, stepped down in March 2007. The President, Toshimasa Iue, also stepped down in April of that year; Seiichiro Sano was appointed to head the company effective April 2007. In October 2007, Sanyo cancelled a 110 billion
yen sale of its semiconductor business, blaming the global credit crisis for the decision and stating that after exploring its other options, it had decided to keep the business and develop it as part of its portfolio. In 2008, Sanyo's mobile phone division was acquired by
Kyocera. On November 2, 2008, Sanyo and
Panasonic announced that they have agreed on the main points of a proposed buyout that would make Sanyo a subsidiary of Panasonic. They became a subsidiary of Panasonic on December 21, 2009. In 2010, Sanyo sold its semiconductor operations to
ON Semiconductor. On July 29, 2010, Panasonic reached an agreement to acquire the remaining shares of
Panasonic Electric Works and Sanyo shares for $9.4 billion. By March 2012, parent company Panasonic plans to terminate the Sanyo brand, however it will remain on some of the products where the Sanyo brand still holds value to consumers. In the same month, Sanyo's Southeast Asian unit, responsible for the manufacturing of consumer electric appliances in the region, was announced to be formally acquired by
Haier. In August 2013, a 51% majority stake in Chinese company Hefei Royalstar Sanyo, a 2000 joint venture between Sanyo and Chinese government investment company Hefei, was purchased by American multinational manufacturer
Whirlpool Corporation for $552 million. ==Energy==