Panasonic New Zealand is part of Panasonic Corporation, one of the largest electronic product manufacturers in the world. The Panasonic Corporation, known as the Matsushita Group until October 2008, traces its origins back to 1918 when Japanese industrialist Konosuke Matsushita started a small business manufacturing home electrical products in Osaka, Japan.

Matsushita first entered the New Zealand market in 1962, supplying refrigerator parts to Fisher & Paykel. In 1971 a sales agreement between Matsushita and Fisher & Paykel saw the introduction of National and Panasonic electronic products to the New Zealand market. In 1987 all National brand products were rebranded Panasonic.