OSAKA \u2013 About one year after launching sweeping management reforms aimed at restoring profitability, major Japanese electronics manufacturer Panasonic Holdings is entering a decisive stage in its turnaround efforts.<\/p>\n
Over the past year, Panasonic has worked to revamp its cost structure through measures including large-scale job cuts and the sale of business units. While these steps have helped advance its restructuring, the company now faces a broader challenge: developing new businesses that can serve as stable drivers of earnings.<\/p>\n
Fiscal 2026, which began this month, is thus shaping up to be a pivotal year for Panasonic as it seeks to break free from prolonged stagnation and place its recovery on firmer ground.<\/p>\n
In fiscal 2024, Panasonic posted a consolidated operating profit margin of 5%, well below Sony Group\u2019s 10.9% and Hitachi\u2019s 9.9%. Panasonic President Yuki Kusumi said the company had \u201clacked sufficient urgency to improve operational efficiency and profitability,\u201d describing its high-cost structure as a major drag on performance.<\/p>\n
Although Panasonic recorded a consolidated net profit of \u00a5366.2 billion in fiscal 2024, the company announced in May 2025 that it would cut 10,000 jobs worldwide. Kusumi said the decision reflected a growing recognition that \u201cunless we make major changes, we will not be able to return to growth.\u201d<\/p>\n
As part of the restructuring, Panasonic has begun consolidating operations across several business areas. In the Kansai region, the company consolidated nine logistics sites into a newly built large-scale hub in the city of Kyotanabe in Kyoto Prefecture.<\/p>\n
In November, Panasonic announced plans to sell an 80% stake in its housing equipment subsidiary, Panasonic Housing Solutions, to YKK, a major aluminum building materials manufacturer.<\/p>\n
The restructuring has extended beyond Panasonic\u2019s core businesses. The company\u2019s baseball team, long considered one of the strongest in Japan\u2019s company-sponsored amateur baseball circuit, will suspend activities after the 2026 season.<\/p>\n
At the same time, Panasonic has indicated that it will continue operating its television and kitchen appliance businesses, both of which had been viewed internally as troubled, low-growth segments. Even so, the company is streamlining those operations. In the TV business, for example, Panasonic has transferred sales operations in Europe and the United States to Chinese appliance giant Skyworth.<\/p>\n
Panasonic has traditionally positioned its automotive battery business, along with its air-quality and air-conditioning operations, as key areas for growth investment.<\/p>\n
Recently, however, the company\u2019s earnings capacity has come under pressure as sales of automotive batteries have dwindled, following the end of electric vehicle subsidies in the United States, while demand for air-to-water heat pump water heaters and heating systems has also weakened.<\/p>\n
Against this backdrop, Panasonic is turning to its energy storage system business for data centers as a potential new growth driver. The business, operated…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"OSAKA \u2013 About one year after launching sweeping management reforms aimed at restoring profitability, major Japanese electronics manufacturer…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":45438,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[175],"tags":[852,217,215,3142,34,214,216,1438,51,4761,8081,260,84],"class_list":["post-45437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-baseball","tag-business","tag-business-of-japan","tag-corporate-governance","tag-energy","tag-japans-business","tag-japanese-business","tag-jobs","tag-manufacturing","tag-mexico","tag-panasonic","tag-tech","tag-u-s"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45437","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45437"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45437\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45438"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}