Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., best known for its Panasonic brand products, has announced that its shareholders have approved a proposal to change the company's name to Panasonic Corporation.

The change will become effective from 1 October 2008, and will also apply to some of the group companies currently using the names Matsushita or National. The shareholders of each of these companies approved the change. In addition, Matsushita announced its ticker symbol will change on the New York Stock Exchange from ‘MC' to ‘PC' as of 1 October.

The brand changeover from National to Panasonic will be phased in across Japan and is expected to complete within the fiscal year ending March 2010. Currently, the National brand is used for home appliances and housing equipment in Japan.

When it was first established in 1918 the company was known as Matsushita Electric Housewares Manufacturing Works, which was subsequently changed to Matsushita Electric Manufacturing Works in 1929. The company has been using the name Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. since its incorporation as a joint stock corporation in 1935. While the company has used the National and Panasonic brand names over a long period, it decided in 2003 to unify its global brand to Panasonic with the brand slogan ‘Panasonic ideas for life'. With this company name change and brand unification, the Panasonic Corporation will celebrate its 90th anniversary this year. The company will bring the achievements accumulated through the three different names of Matsushita, National, and Panasonic under the single umbrella name of Panasonic.

The new Panasonic Corporation has renewed its group-wide commitment to putting the company's management philosophies into practice throughout the world - to enhance its brand value and strive to become a globally excellent company.

www.panasonic.net