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TOKYO - JAPAN'S Matsushita Electric Industrial said on Thursday it will change its name to Panasonic, seeking to draw on its best known brand to boost its international recognition.
The group also unveiled plans to invest about US$857 million (S$1.2 million) to expand its semiconductor production facilities.
Matsushita's name change will take effect from October, provided that shareholders give their approval, the group announced.
'The company will unify all the divisions of the domestic and global markets under the brand name Panasonic,' group president Fumio Otsubo told a press conference.
'Our objective is to summon all the strengths of the group under the single brand name of Panasonic and to increase the value of the Panasonic brand,' he said.
The group, founded by entrepreneur Konosuke Matsushita in 1918 in the western city of Osaka, also makes products under other brands including National, which it first attached to bicycle lamps in 1927.
The group will ditch the National brand, which is mainly used for home appliances such as washing machines and refrigerators sold in Japan.
Matsushita introduced the Panasonic brand for international markets in 1955 and it is now widely recognised overseas.
The name change 'is a bold step forward to make the company a truly global corporation', Matsushita said in a statement.
The group also announced plans to invest 94 billion yen (S$1.2 million) to construct a new facility that will produce image sensors for digital cameras and other appliances starting from August 2009.
Matsushita said it aims to boost its annual revenue to over 10 trillion yen in the year to March 2010, up 10 percent from the year to March 2007 level of 9.11 trillion yen.
The Osaka-based company said it was counting on its digital audio and visual products, car electronics, semiconductor chips and devices and home appliance segments to be key growth drivers. -- AFP
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