Panasonic announced that it had sold its 100 millionth mobile phone at the beginning of April 2008, becoming the first producer to have shipped so many handsets in Japan.

International brand of Matsushita Electric, Panasonic launched its first device that can be cataloged as a mobile phone in 1987. It was the TZ-802B model, a brick-phone with a huge external antenna and a funny (for 2008) look. After this model, Panasonic produced and launched various other phones and in June 1997 the company reached 10 million units sold.

It took Panasonic no less than 11 more years to sell another 90 million units and reach the 100 million threshold. Sure, this number cannot be compared to how many phones the big mobile players sell (Nokia, for example, sold 437 million devices in 2007 only), but it's still a great achievement. And we must not forget that Panasonic's handsets are mainly sold in Japan, only few of them reaching other markets.

The 100 millionth Panasonic mobile phone sold is a FOMA P905i model, a TV handset exclusively commercialized by NTT DoCoMo, the largest mobile operator in Japan. Also known as Panasonic VIERA P905i, the phone can stand beside any other high-end phone in the world, as it offers many features like a 3.2 inch VIERA display with a 2000:1 contrast ratio and 480 x 854 pixels, GPS, 3G and a 5.1 Megapixel camera with video recording and image stabilizer. P905i is an elegantly designed clamshell that can be vertically opened too, offering the best possible mobile TV experience.

Many other Panasonic phones have similar advanced features, and this is one of the main reasons why they're so popular in Japan, known as one of the most mature mobile markets in the world.

The future can only bring more highly featured Panasonic handsets. Hopefully, they'll also reach other global markets besides the Japanese one.