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Panasonic Corporation has developed more powerful batteries for use in everything from laptops to electric vehicles, the Japanese electronics maker has said.

The new lithium-ion batteries are 20% to 30% more powerful than current batteries, according to Osaka-based Panasonic. They can raise the cruising range of electric vehicles on a single charge from 120 miles to about 170 miles, it said…

Panasonic has a joint venture with Toyota Motor Corporation that supplies batteries for hybrid cars, including the Prius, and plug-in models. But Panasonic said it was in talks with about 10 automakers to supply the new battery, underlining the breakdown of such tie-ups involving batteries for green autos.

Panasonic has also just taken majority control of Japanese rival Sanyo Electric Company, which also boasts new lithium-ion battery technology.

Disclaimer – I own stock in Sanyo. Mostly because they make the “Toasty” – my favorite toaster-oven – and Eneloop, the best rechargeable AA batteries in the world.

None of this growth is unexpected – if you ignore pundits who base their analysis of tech industries on Silicon Valley or Detroit of 20 years ago.

Sanyo’s Solar Ark solar generator
Daylife/AP Photo by Katsumi Kasahara

Japan’s Sanyo Electric and Nippon Oil announced they would collaborate to produce thin-film solar cells for large-scale power generation. The 50-50 joint venture will spend roughly 20 billion yen (226 million dollars) to build a factory in Japan that can annually produce enough solar cells to produce electricity worth 80 megawatts.

The venture should have capacity of one gigawatt by March 2016 and two gigawatts by March 2021, when the companies estimate the solar cell market will be worth 10 trillion yen.

“The solar power market is showing temporary flat growth for now due to the global slowdown, but we expect the market to grow significantly in the medium- to long-term,” Sanyo president Seiichiro Sano told a news conference.

The venture will initially target markets in Asia, the Middle East and Oceania. They will include the United States in their goals if and when Congress and the White House ever get beyond panicking over the economy.

The current global economic crisis should not pose significant problems, as the venture focuses on long-term projects, Nishio said. “The current economic situation will eventually improve. We are not concerned about the effects of the current economic condition on the management of this company,” he said.

Ain’t it something to hear from some of the Big Boys outside the U.S.? Instead of whining about the next two quarters of Wall Street crumbling, they’re focusing on how to make long-term money from manufacturing sensible infrastructure products.

Panasonic will spend at least $4.5 billion to take control of its smaller rival Sanyo Electric, creating the second-largest Japanese electronics maker, behind Hitachi. The major shareholder, Goldman Sachs, said it would tender its Sanyo stake to Panasonic.

The decision by Goldman, which had rejected Panasonic’s previous lower offers, came after the Wall Street bank reported its first quarterly loss since going public. Yup. Goldman Sachs needs some cold, hard cash.

The acquisition would almost quadruple Panasonic’s share of the rechargeable-battery market and give it access to Sanyo’s solar-cell technology. Panasonic said it planned to speed development of next-generation solar cells and use its sales network to increase revenue from the devices…

The purchase revives links between the two companies that date to the creation of Sanyo. Its founder, the late Toshio Iue, was a brother-in-law of Konosuke Matsushita, who established Panasonic in 1918. Iue quit his job at Matsushita Electric Industrial, the former name of Panasonic, in 1946 and set up Sanyo the following year.

“The historical roots of the two companies played a big role in Panasonic’s offer, more so than the deal’s logistics,” Yuuki Sakurai of Fukoku said.

The president of Panasonic, Fumio Ohtsubo, said that taking over Sanyo would provide an opportunity for his company to become more competitive to ride out a worsening global downturn. “The alliance with Sanyo will provide an engine for growth for us,” he said in Osaka.

Over a number of years, I had a tangential relationship with several Japanese firms. It was a unique pleasure being able to reflect upon historic context within every business decision.

BTW, when Mister Matshushita died he left an outline for Panasonic – for the next thousand years.

Daylife photo from AFP/Getty Images

Panasonic, the top plasma TV maker in the world, is betting on a green future of solar power and hybrid cars as it negotiates a price for Sanyo Electric that analysts say could be up to $8.7 billion.

A key driver for Panasonic is Sanyo’s auto batteries business, which, in addition to powering hybrid and electric vehicles, could also mean a foothold in the solar-cell industry, another sector with strong growth potential amid concern about global climate change.

Sanyo is one of the largest solar cell makers and competes with bigger rivals like Q-Cells of Germany.

“This isn’t a bad combination,” said Nobuo Kurahashi, an analyst with Mizuho Investors Securities. “Sony doesn’t make auto batteries, at least not yet. When hybrid and electric vehicle demand takes off, Panasonic and Sanyo will be far ahead of everyone else…”

In addition, Sanyo is the top supplier of rechargeable batteries used in cellphones, laptops and MP3 players, ahead of rivals like Sony and Panasonic.

I was wondering what this is all about. Been following the rumors of the acquisition for a couple of days, now; but, no one’s offered much in the way of analysis. Looks like Japanese firms still do a better job of looking to the future than anyone cobbling corporate plans in the United States.

I bought two of their cameras, this year and I’m really impressed with the ergonomics and intelligent, intuitive software design.