Kawakita Denki Kigyosha (Japanese for "Kawakita Electric Company"; commonly known as KDK), is the brand name used by Matsushita Ecology Systems Co. 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 was registered as a trademark in 1912 but originated in 1909 as Nippon Electric Industry Co. Ltd.
KDK manufactures electric fans, ceiling fans, ventilating fans, range hoods, air doors (air curtains), hand dryers, dehumidifiers, and subterranean air blowers, under the Panasonic brand.
History
KDK became part of the Matsushita Conglomerate in 1956. Matsushita Seiko as it was known is no longer headquartered in Osaka, Japan; manufacturing for KDK and Panasonic Ventilating products was transferred 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.
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 Innovacion from the Dominican Republic (2002) and O.C.S. from Jamaica (2004); the latter also distributes National Branded Fans which (now known as Panasonic since 2008)