KDK

Infobox Company
company_name = Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
company_
company_type =
company_slogan = Over the Generations
foundation = 1909
location = Japan
key_people =
area_served =
industry =
products = Range hoods
Air curtains
Hand dryers
Ceiling fans
Electric Oscillanting fans
Dehumidifiers
revenue =
operating_income =
net_income =
num_employees =
parent =
subsid =
homepage = [http://www.kdk.jp KDK Japan]
[http://www.kdk.com.my KDK Malaysia]
[http://www.kdk.co.id KDK Indonesia]
footnotes =

Kawakita Denki Kigyosha, translated as Kawakita Electric Company and known as "KDK", is the brand name used by Matsushita Ecology Systems Co., Ltd., a separate company of The Matsushita Electric Industrial Group, to manufacture the group's ventilating products. Before becoming part of Matsushita Electric, KDK was a separate company not affiliated with Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. KDK became part of the Matsushita Comglomerate in 1956. Matsushita Seiko as it was known is no longer headquartered in Osaka, Japan; manufacturing for KDK and Panasonic Ventillating products was transfered from Selangor Malaysia to mainland China in 2001. All Manufacturing is done at the Shenzhen Panasonic Air Works Co., Ltd. factory in Shenzhen, China and the international sales offices has also re-located to Hong Kong under the Matsushita Seiko Hong Kong International Manufacturing Company, Ltd. known as "HIMCO" since 2001.

This unusual ceiling fan was a rare and poorly organized fail-sales attempt of an imported KDK ceiling fan which was relabeled "RoyalAire By KDK" by then distributor Sumitomo America in the decade of the 1980s for the United States.

In 2009 KDK will be celebrating its 100th anniversary. The oldest KDK distributor is Abdulaziz & Sulaiman Saleh Al-Hakbany Sons Trading Co. from Saudi Arabia which dates back to 1936. Puerto Rico is the second oldest KDK distributor dating back to 1940. The newest distributors for KDK are La Innovaccion from Dominican Republic (2002) and O.C.S. from Jamaica (2004); the latter also distributes National Branded Fans which will now be known as Panasonic as in 2008. Before these, the local distributor for Puerto Rico had sole rights over the entire Caribbean region, and Southern U.S. states.

KDK has made two attempts to distribute their products in the United States Mainland, the first time in 1983 when U.S.-based Patton Industries imported the Electric Oscillanting Fans and relabeled them "KDK by Patton" and The Ceiling Fans known as "RoyalAire" by Sumitomo Ameerica one of Matsushita's Bank, Shareholder and Insurance provider this was a complete failure as the products never caught on with consumers. The second time was in 1998 by Miami-based importer Caribbean Export Appliances,Inc. tried to sell KDK but due to their high reselling prices and poor selection of models and colors imported by them, these never made it to the streets; inventory was exported to Jamaica and other Caribbean nations until the Puerto Rico distributor acknowledged this and reported it to Matsushita Seiko, which in return revoke Caribbeans' distribution license.

In April 2002, Matsushita Seiko Co., Ltd. changed its name to Matsushita Ecology Systems Co.,Ltd. after corporate restructuring and disolution of the partnership between Matsushita and Seiko. [3] The company opened a wholly-owned sales branch in Malaysia in 1999 and another in Indonesia a year after for distributing its fans without any license distributor.

Specifically, the main product of KDK is its electric fans. The company also manufactures ventillating fans, range hoods, air curtains, hand dryers, ceiling fans, dehumidifiers, and subterranean air blowers, under the Panasonic brand. KDK was registered as a trademark in 1912 but originated in 1909 as Nippon Electric Industry Co. Ltd.

References

External links

* [http://www.kdk.jp KDK Japan]
* [http://www.kdk.com.my/index.asp KDK Malaysia]
* [http://www.kdk.co.id KDK Indonesia]