Panaonic cleared to buy Sanyo

[hatman]

Sanyo's NIMH battery assets to be sold to a subsidiary of Fujitsu.



FTC Order Sets Conditions for Panasonic’s Acquisition of Sanyo
Major consumer electronics manufacturers Panasonic Corporation and Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. have agreed to sell assets related to Sanyo’s portable nickel metal hydride (NiMH) battery business, including a premier manufacturing plant in Japan, as part of an agreement with the Federal Trade Commission that will preserve competition and allow the companies to proceed with Panasonic’s proposed $9 billion acquisition of Sanyo. NiMH batteries power two-way radios, among other products, which are used by police and fire departments nationwide.
Under a proposed FTC consent order, the portable NiMH battery assets will be sold to FDK Corporation, a subsidiary of Fujitsu Ltd. The sale of the assets resolves competitive concerns that were raised by the transaction, which combines the world’s two largest manufacturers and sellers of these batteries. No competitive concerns were raised by other overlaps between the companies.
The News Release can be found at <http://ftc.gov/opa/2009/11/sanyo.shtm>!
This message is from the Federal Trade Commission. The above link will take you to a page within the FTC's site (note the ".gov" Web address), or you may type http://ftc.gov/opa/2009/11/sanyo.shtm into your browser. The FTC will not collect any personal information from you or the person who sent you this message.

 

[TranceAddict]

the death of future eneloop

 

[XRAYBoY]

The eneloops can become antipersonnel Fujitsu batteries? :aaa:

 

[Link Archer VI]

Why do I have a bad feeling about this?

 

[Bones]

Why do I have a bad feeling about this?

Perhaps it's because of this:

Sanyo to sell some battery operations to Fujitsu unit

Oct. 28--OSAKA -- Sanyo Electric Co. said Wednesday it plans to sell parts of its rechargeable battery business to FDK Corp., a Fujitsu Ltd. unit, for 6.4 billion yen to pave the way for an early approval from overseas antitrust authorities for it to become a Panasonic Corp. subsidiary.

Panasonic's plan to take over Sanyo has been stalled due to delays in obtaining approval from antitrust bodies in the United States and China on concerns over the size of the two firms' combined share of the global nickel-hydrogen battery market.

The deal has already been approved by the Japan Fair Trade Commission and most recently by the European Commission on condition that Sanyo reduce some of its battery production facilities.

The Osaka-based manufacturer is expected to sell Sanyo Energy Twicell Co., the only unit that makes nickel metal hydride batteries under the "eneloop" brand and other rechargeable batteries for use in computers and game consoles. Sanyo Energy Tottori Co., another unit that makes cylindrical lithium batteries, will also be sold to FDK.

While handing over the manufacturing of its signature eneloop products to FDK, Sanyo will continue to handle product planning and distribution by purchasing them from the Japanese electronic parts maker.

The company is anticipating a consolidated loss of 9 billion yen from the sale of the two units but added that the figure has already been incorporated into its latest earnings forecast.

The planned deal will also not affect operations for nickel metal hydride batteries for use in gas-electric hybrid vehicles.

Sanyo currently supplies the batteries to automakers, including for Honda Motor Co.'s Insight hybrid.

More...

The italics are mine, he sobs....

 

[TheInvader]

Well, anyone have any idea why I once bought a Nikon L100 (October 2009) and it had Panasonic Alkalines packaged, and then a week after, I purchased a Fuji camera and it also had Panasonic.
I would think they would be different brands, but even down to the ching chong all over to the battery it's the same, could be from the same batch even.

 

[Black Rose]

Is this at least a gleam of hope from this latest development (assuming Fujitsu doesn't bugger it up)?

While handing over the manufacturing of its signature eneloop products to FDK, Sanyo will continue to handle product planning and distribution by purchasing them from the Japanese electronic parts maker.

 

[Battery Bum]

Let's look at the bright side. Maybe Fujitsu will make a Fujiloop and make it more available to everyone. I for one have never seen a purebred Eneloop here in NH and have had to buy only the Duraloop rebranding. I guess Costco had them but it is too far away for me - BJ's is 5 minutes away but only has the Durahybrid ROV rebrand.

 

[Bones]

Is this at least a gleam of hope from this latest development (assuming Fujitsu doesn't bugger it up)?

Perhaps, especially in light of this statement in the official news release from Sanyo respecting the divestiture:

Sanyo will continue to sell globally its retail nickel-metal hydride battery 'eneloop' after the Takasaki Stock Purchase. It intends to continue outsourcing the manufacture of those batteries to the current Sanyo Energy Twicell.

Official News Release:

http://sanyo.com/news/2009/10/28-1.pdf
.

 

[MarioJP]

what does all of this means??

 

[Black Rose]

what does all of this means??

If Fujitsu is simply taking over the operations of the Sanyo factory and not changing anything (other than as instructed by Sanyo battery engineers), there shouldn't be any noticeable changes.

Ultimately, we'll just have to wait and see.

I'll probably grab some more Eneloops or Duraloops just in case.

 

[Hitthespot]

Let's look at the bright side. Maybe Fujitsu will make a Fujiloop and make it more available to everyone. I for one have never seen a purebred Eneloop here in NH and have had to buy only the Duraloop rebranding. I guess Costco had them but it is too far away for me - BJ's is 5 minutes away but only has the Durahybrid ROV rebrand.

I have also seen the Eneloop brand at Walmart, though I've heard some Walmarts don't have them. They can be hard to find. I had to ask three different people before someone new what they were and where to find them. H&H Greg is also a distributor for Eneloops, but I'm not sure what geography H&H cover.

Bill

 

[MarioJP]

Will this be the end of the Eneloop?

 

[amigafan2003]

Will this be the end of the Eneloop?

No.

 

[RA40]

Interesting...had not been aware of this while I was over there. I did notice that Panasonic batteries were at end caps of some stores: Handsman, A-Z and I had to look in the main battery sections to find the Eneloops, which were not well stocked in any store. Yamada Denki, Best and various drug type stores.

 

[Mr Happy]

Interesting...had not been aware of this while I was over there. I did notice that Panasonic batteries were at end caps of some stores: Handsman, A-Z and I had to look in the main battery sections to find the Eneloops, which were not well stocked in any store. Yamada Denki, Best and various drug type stores.

When I was in Tokyo I also noticed I didn't see Eneloops in the typical drug/convenience stores. But then, I don't see premium products in the likes of CVS over here either, so I was not too surprised.

 

[RA40]

Of the packages I did find among those stores, the most recent date was 9-09. Was hoping to find the 1,500 cycle variants they had announced. With the hurting exchange rate, it was hard to buy at ~$18/4 pack.

When all this settles I hope we'll see the real Eneloops stateside in mass.

 

[Beacon of Light]

What are these 1500 cycle variants? MIJ?

 

[Link Archer VI]

I think RA40's talking about these upgraded Eneloops, which AFAIK are only available in Japan.

 

[Closet_Flashaholic]

Hmmm, the pessimist in me thinks that

1) We will probably never see the "C" and "D" eneloops that were announced available for retail sale
2) Increased cost of all eneloops (at least at the wholesale level), it remains to be seen if the costs would be passed on to the consumer

I wonder if the R&D group that developed the eneloops are included in the sale, or just the manufacturing facilities. That will ultimately determine the future of eneloops I think.

For me, I will pick up some more just to have, just in case.

I my opinion, acquisitions/sales like this are a negative for the consumer. Why would Panasonic want to purchase a unit that was generating a net loss, other than to remove competition or turn it into a net profit (by raising prices if they have to/can)?

I myself have completely stopped buying any disposable batteries of any type mostly due to eneloops (for any C/AA/AAA usage and some "D" uses) and Li-Ion over the past 2 years. The only exception is that I still buy L91 AA Lithiums for long term storage/survival/cold uses.