Sanyo
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| Type | Kabushiki kaisha TYO: 6764 NASDAQ: SANYY |
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| Founded | April 1, 1950 |
| Headquarters |  Moriguchi, Osaka, Japan |
| Key people | Toshio Iue, Seiichiro Sano |
| Industry | Electronics |
| Products | Semiconductors, Consumer electronics, Dry batteries, and Cellular phones |
| Revenue | 13.741 billion USD (2006) |
| Employees | 14,137 (2006)[1] |
| Parent | Panasonic Corporation |
| Website | http://www.sanyo.com/ |
SANYO Electric Co., Ltd. (三洋電機株式会社 San'yō Denki Kabushiki-gaisha) (TYO: 6764, NASDAQ: SANYY) is a major electronics company and member of the Fortune 500 whose headquarters is located in Moriguchi, Osaka prefecture, Japan. Sanyo targets the middle of the market and has over 324 offices and plants worldwide[citation needed], together employing more than 11,000 employees[1].
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 [2] and a formal announcement of the acquisition was made on Sanyo's web site on December 19, 2008.[3]They became a subsidiary of Panasonic on December 21, 2009.[4]
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[edit] Corporate culture
Sanyo utilizes an extensive socialization process for new employees, so that they will be acclimatized to Sanyo's corporate culture.[5] New employees take a five-month course during which they eat together and share company-provided sleeping accommodation. They learn everything from basic job requirements to company expectations for personal grooming and the appropriate way in which to address their coworkers and superiors.
[edit] History
Sanyo was founded when Toshio Iue (井植 歳男 Iue Toshio, 1902-1969), 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 1950; in 1952 it made Japan's first plastic radio and in 1954 Japan's first pulsator-type washing machine. [1] The company's name means three oceans in Japanese, referring to the founder's ambition to sell their products worldwide, across the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans.
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), 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[6].
In North America, Sanyo manufactures CDMA cellular phones exclusively for Sprint-Nextel corporation's Sprint PCS brand in the United States, and for Bell Mobility in Canada. For three consecutive years, Sanyo received the J.D. Power and Associates award for having the highest overall satisfaction out of the eight most popular mobile phone manufacturers.[citation needed] However in 2005 Sanyo tied with LG for this position.
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 in a joint venture with Honda Motor Co. Ltd. (two firms would develop a nickel hydrogen battery) [7] and key consumer electronics such as the Xacti camera, projectors and mobile phones.
Sanyo posted signs of recovery after the announcement of positive operating income of 2.6 billion yen. Sanyo 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.
Tomoyo Nonaka, a former NHK anchorwoman who was appointed Chairman of the company, stepped down in March 2007[8]. The President, Toshimasa Iue, also stepped down in April this year; Seiichiro Sano was appointed to head the company effective April 2007.
In December 2005 Sayno had their new Super Sharp Technology patented.
In January 2006 Sanyo received a massive capital injection from Goldman Sachs, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and Daiwa Securities which resulted in five members of the banks represented joining the nine-person Board of Directors.
On 24 November 2006, Sanyo announced heavy losses and job cuts.[9]
Fisher Electronics which was purchased by Sanyo from Fisher Radio Corporation in 1975, is a Sanyo US subsidiary.
In October 2007, Sanyo canceled what may have been a possible 110 billion yen ($942 million) semiconductor sale, stating that after exploring its other options, it had decided to keep the business and develop it as part of its portfolio[10].
On April 1, 2008, they merged their cell phone division with Kyocera.
On December 21, 2009, Sanyo became a subsidiary of Panasonic.
[edit] Energy
[edit] Solar plants
Sanyo Energy opened its solar module assembly plant in Hungary and in Mexico in 2004, and in 2006 it produced solar modules worth $213 million. In 2007, Sanyo completed a new unit at its solar module plant in Hungary that is to triple its annual capacity to 720,000 units in 2008.[11]
Plans to expand production were based on rising demands for Sanyo Hungary products, whose leading markets are Germany, Italy, Spain and the Scandinavian countries. The plant at Dorog, outside Budapest, will be Sanyo Electric's largest facility that produces solar modules in the entire world.[11]
In late September 2008, Sanyo Electric Company, Ltd. announced its decision to build a manufacturing plant for solar ingots and wafers (the building blocks for silicon solar cells) in Inagi, Japan. The plant will begin operating in October 2009 and will reach its full production capacity of 70 megawatts (MW) of solar wafers per year by April 2010. . Sanyo and Nippon Oil have decided to launch a joint company for the production and sale of thin-film solar panels, to be named Sanyo Eneos Solar Co., Ltd . The new joint company will start production and sales at an initial scale of 80MW and gradually increase its production capacity. For this joint project, Sanyo will draw on its solar cell technologies, based on the technology acquired through the development of the HIT Solar Cell[12].
[edit] Electric vehicle batteries
Toshiba Group's nickel metal hydride battery business, Toshiba Battery Co., Ltd. (with manufacture base was in Takasaki), was transferred to Sanyo. Toshiba Battery Co., Ltd. manufacture base was in Takasaki, newly inaugurated as Sanyo Energy Takasaki Co., Ltd. [13]
Sanyo Electric Co Ltd. subsidiary, supplies nickel metal hydride batteries to Honda Motor Co. Ltd., Ford Motor Co. and Volkswagen. [14] Sanyo has made a deal with Peugeot and plans to supply Toyota; as of November, 2009.
Sanyo Electric plans to raise monthly production of NiMH batteries for hybrid vehicles from the current 1 million units to up to 2.5 million by the end of fiscal 2005.[15]
Volkswagen is planning an alliance with Sanyo to develop a pilot hybrid project for Volkswagen. [16]
[edit] Sponsorship
Sanyo is the major sponsor of the Penrith Panthers Rugby League team in the National Rugby League (Australia). Sanyo is also one of the sponsors for the John Force racing team,[citation needed] which includes John Force and his daughter Ashley Force. In football sponsored of Club Atlético River Plate between 1992 on 1995.
[edit] See also
- List of digital camera brands
- Sanyo mobile phones
- Sanyo Wild Knights, a Japanese rugby union team owned by Sanyo.
- MildDisc
- Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
- Panasonic EV Energy Co
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Sanyo Corporate Profile
- ^ NHKニュース 三洋電機 子会社化で大筋合意 (NHK News: Agreement to Main Points to make Sanyo Electric a Subsidiary) Retrieved on November 2, 2008
- ^ Sanyo Press Release Retrieved on May 14, 2009
- ^ http://sanyo.com/news/2009/12/21-1.html
- ^ J. Impoco, "Basic Training, Sanyo Style". U.S. News & World Report, July 13, 1992, pp. 46–48.
- ^ Toshiba to give up on HD DVD, end format war: source | Technology | Reuters
- ^ Honda In Joint Venture With Sanyo To Produce Hybrid Car Batteries. | Automotive > Automotive Overview from AllBusiness.com
- ^ http://www.upi.com/Business_News/2007/03/19/Sanyo-Chairwoman-Tomoyo-Nonaka-resigns/UPI-64011174315797/
- ^ Sanyo to lose 50 billion yen, cut 2,200 jobs by April
- ^ About reports in the Media on Oct 17 (SANYO Official Release)
- ^ a b Japan's Sanyo expands Hungary solar plant
- ^ http://www.solarbuzz.com/news/NewsASCO396.htm
- ^ Toshiba : Press Releases 27 April, 2001
- ^ Mitsubishi Heavy to make lithium ion car batteries
- ^ Green Car Congress: Sanyo to More than Double NiMH Battery Production Based on Hybrid Demand
- ^ http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2006/02/03/209275.html
[edit] External links
- Sanyo Ranks Highest in Customer Satisfaction with Wireless Mobile Phones in a Tie According to 2007 Study by J.D. Power and Associates (sanyo.com)
- Sanyo audio classics - history (Private German project)
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