Panasonic Ships 100 Million Mobile Phones As Of March 2008

Yokohama, Japan---Panasonic Mobile Communications Co., Ltd (Panasonic Mobile) announced that at the end of March this year it became the first mobile phone manufacturer to achieve a record delivery of 100 million units of mobile communication terminals to Japanese mobile phone carriers. These carriers include NTT DoCoMo, Inc., KDDI Corporation and SOFTBANK MOBILE Corp.

TZ-801 Mobile Car Phone

Panasonic Mobile, formerly known as Matsushita Communications Industrial Co., Ltd., began supplying mobile communication terminals in 1979 and delivered the first automobile-mounted cell phone, the 800MHz "TZ-801" to Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Public Corporation. Panasonic Mobile reached milestones of 10 million units in June, 1997 and 50 million units in March, 2001.

Prior to the start of the automobile telephone service in December, 1979, the company shipped 100 units of the "TZ-801" that had a capacity of 6,600 cc and weighed about 7 kg. This model was followed by the first "shoulder phone" that could be detached easily from a car holder and be carried around on the caller's shoulder.

The company contributed to the development of mobile phone industry by delivering its first mobile phone "TZ-802B" in 1987, the world's smallest and lightest "mova^® P" in 1991, and the digital mobile phone "mova P201 HYPER" in 1996. Weighing less than 100 g, the mova "P201 HYPER" became a big hit because of its compact, lightweight body and its user-friendly features.

Image of TZ-801 courtesy of Yuichi Kogure
tag: Mobile, Panasonic Mobile Communications, Japanese mobile phone carriers, NTT DoCoMo, KDDI Corp, Softbank Mobile Corp, Matsushita Communications Industrial Co, TZ-801