Sanyo Electric

DATASHEETS for SANYO electronic parts and components

About SANYO ELECTRIC

Sanyo Electric Co. Ltd, stylized as SANYO, was a leading company for energy and environment, providing solutions for energy, environment and lifestyle applications based on its brand vision ‘Think GAIA.’

SANYO’s businesses were divided into three business domains: Energy, Ecology and Electronics. Those three areas covered a broad range of products and services such as rechargeable batteries, photovoltaic systems, HVAC/R equipment, digital imaging devices, personal navigation systems, home appliances, electronic components and others.

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; in 1952 it made Japan’s first plastic radio and in 1954 Japan’s first pulsator-type washing machine. 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.

In 2008, Sanyo’s mobile phone division was acquired by Kyocera.

The 2004 Chuetsu earthquake severely damaged Sanyo’s semiconductor plant and as a result Sanyo recorded a huge financial loss for that year.
In 2010, Sanyo sold its semiconductor operations to ON Semiconductor.

In 2009, Panasonic completed acquisition of a 50.2% stake in Sanyo, making Sanyo a subsidiary of Panasonic.
In 2011, Sanyo became a wholly owned subsidiary of Panasonic, with its assets integrated into the latter’s portfolio.
By 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 2013, a 51% majority stake in Chinese company Hefei Royalstar Sanyo, a 2000 joint venture between Japanese Sanyo and Chinese government investment company Hefei, was purchased by American multinational manufacturer Whirlpool Corporation.
[Source: Wikipedia]