Jan. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., the world's largest consumer electronics maker, will rename itself Panasonic, broadcaster NHK reported today, dropping the founder's name for the first time in its 90-year history.

The company, known for its Panasonic brand of electronics, was established by Konosuke Matsushita in 1918. Osaka, Japan- based Matsushita will also abolish the ``National'' brand name for domestically sold household electronics in October, NHK reported, without saying where it obtained the information.

Akira Kadota, a Tokyo-based company spokesman, declined by telephone to comment on the report before Matsushita's briefing this afternoon on its business plan for the next fiscal year.

Matsushita shares fell 0.5 percent to 2,160 yen as of 2 p.m. on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, while the benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 0.9 percent.

To contact the reporter on this story: Hiroshi Suzuki in Tokyo at hsuzuki5@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: January 10, 2008 00:20 EST