Background and Identification
Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. (stylized as SANYO) was a Japanese electronics company with over 230 subsidiaries and affiliates. Sanyo is known as a consumer electronics manufacturer. In December 2009, Panasonic acquired a 50.2% stake in Sanyo, making Sanyo a subsidiary of Panasonic. In April 2011, Sanyo became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Panasonic. Sanyo began to sell products worldwide in the late 1970s after Sanyo introduced home audio equipment, car stereos, and other consumer electronics to the North American market. Sanyo is also well-known in the television industry. In 2005, Sanyo launched a new corporate vision to make the company an environmental company. Sanyo put large investments into products like rechargeable batteries, solar photovoltaics, air conditioning, hybrid car batteries, and consumer electronics such as the Xacti camera, projectors, and mobile phones.
Sanyo’s main products in the camera industry include cameras of the “Sanyo Xacti” brand. Some of Sanyo’s camera products have been licensed to be sold by other manufacturers, and vice versa, with Sanyo selling products manufactured by other companies. For example, the VPC-A5 Xacti is identical to the Konica Minolta Dimage X50.
Xacti is a brand of Sanyo hybrid digital cameras and camcorders. Xacti cameras use a distinct pistol-shaped format with most controls operated by the user’s thumb, allowing the user to shoot video and picture simultaneously. The range of Xacti models includes high definition cameras, waterproof cameras, and cameras using the H.264 video codec. Sanyo’s line of digital cameras includes models that start with the letters “DSC” or “VPC.”