世界名牌博览：日本松下公司

松下（Panasonic），是日本的一个跨国性公司，在全世界设有230多家公司，员工总数超过290,493人。其中在中国有54，000多人。2001年全年的销售总额为610多亿美元，为世界制造业500强的第26名。

Panasonic的中文为“松下”（早期叫National，1986年开始逐步更改为Panasonic，2008年10月1日起全部统一为Panasonic）由日本松下电器产业株式会社自1918年松下幸之助创业，发展品牌产品涉及家电、数码视听电子、办公产品、航空等诸多领域而享誉全球；该企业品牌跃入《世界品牌500强》排行榜。松下于2012年10月31日宣布2012财年(2012年4月～2013年3月）的合并最终损益（按照美国会计标准）预期从盈利500亿日元下调为亏损7650亿日元。

 

Panasonic is a Japanese multinational¹ corporation that produces electronics. It is Japan’s largest maker² of electrical goods and the 89th biggest company in the world. The company was founded in 1918 by Konosuke Matsushita. It was called Matsushita Denki and started off making bicycle lamps. It changed its name to Panasonic in 2003. ‘Panasonic’ was the name of the audio speakers it produced in 1955. After WWII, the company started making a wide variety of household electronics and bicycles. It became a world leader in the former but was forced to give up making bicycles due to poor levels of profitability. Panasonic bought its rival Sanyo (which was started my Matsushita’s brother-in-law) in 2008. The merged³ corporation has annual revenues of over $110 billion. The company uses the slogan “Panasonic ideas for life”.

 

 

1 multinational   

adj.多国的，多种国籍的；n.多国籍公司，跨国公司

参考例句：

• The firm was taken over by a multinational consulting firm.这家公司被一个跨国咨询公司收购。
• He analyzed the relationship between multinational corporations and under-developed countries.他分析了跨国公司和不发达国家之间的关系。

2 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

3 merged   

（使）混合( merge的过去式和过去分词 )； 相融； 融入； 渐渐消失在某物中

参考例句：

• Turf wars are inevitable when two departments are merged. 两个部门合并时总免不了争争权限。
• The small shops were merged into a large market. 那些小商店合并成为一个大商场。