I have 4 Panasonic evolta’s, and they are unfortunately made in china.
I don’t know if all evolta’s are made in china.
Costco never stopped carrying them. They just changed the deal. I bought some a few weeks back.
If changing to Panasonic brand means availability in the US expands beyond the ridiculous and exclusive timing offered by Costco, I am all for the change...
(Sorry, Fishinfool)
As long as they keep their “special editions” selling in Japan only 
Also, I’m sorry but made in China vs. made in Japan also doesn’t mean jack. As long as they keep QA practices in China as they do in Japan it doesn’t matter, and for a big company like this I expect them to be able to do so.
Who are you referring to?
I said; selling in Japan, not made in Japan… even though made in Japan will definitely be a plus.
This is the order I understood, bose301s responding to fyesilova. There has been product made in China that did not adhere to the Eneloop quality control. I interpret bose301s to be saying that country of manufacture is not the important criteria. The important thing is the quality control, regardless of longitude and latitude.
Exactly, there is definitely plenty of poorly made products from every country. QA/QC is more important than origin.
Bose, that’s true.
But for some products when it says made in…., it can show the quality of the product, or the materials used in it.
Duraloops for example, when they say made in Japan, they are likely rebranded eneloops, while made in china they aren’t.
Just for clarification.
There are quite a few products from Japan that aren’t high quality, even though I can’t think of any from the top of my head.
Anyway, I would like to know if the eneloops will be manufactured in china or in Japan. Because Panasonic makes batteries in china as well.
And that might mean that they move their eneloop production there as well.
I am agree it depends on the factory and quality control.
Generally speaking, Made in Japan items are known as quality ones in Turkiye, and Made in China items are known as cheap and low quality.
Some brands even prefer “Made in PRC” to be written instead “Made in China”, not to reveal the origin.
I have seen very high quality items from China, under reputable brands.
I always prefer “made in Turkey” product to any product from china if available.
As for the batteries and electronics, I see better products if “made in Japan”.
Is the capacity of Eneloop cells measured in enemahs? J)
Panasonic changing the logo and moving manufacturing to China? Enethema.
Panasonic Eneloops ? 
I'll have to wait and see. Luckily I have a few eneloops to keep me busy for a while. 
+1
Now you’re making me hungry!
How many enemahs would you get for the life of it? Could these be the cheapest per enemah ever possible?
So what really is an eneloop nowadays? And where does it come from?
First of all are all Eneloops made by Panasonic?
The new 2100 cycle models that are made in China come from Panasonic’s Wuxi factory in China. An educated guess is they are re-badged Evolta’s that also come from this factory . More profit for Panasonic since they become the manufacturer rather than outsourcing supply of the product. They are not the same technology which is held by the FDK Twicell in Japan. Allegedly they are using Panasonic’s Evolta technology which many in the battery industry considers to be inferior.
Panasonic are NOT the manufacturer of made in Japan eneloops. They never have been. That was Sanyo when they owned the Twicell factory.
Eneloop’s that are made in Japan still come from the same factory, the Twicell factory in Gunma, Takasaki.
This factory manufactured most of the NiMH industrial Sanyo batteries and all of the consumer models including eneloop.
The factory was originally owned by Toshiba then purchased by Sanyo along with the technology patents in 2001. When Panasonic bought Sanyo in 2010 the Twicell factory was sold to FDK who are majority owned by Fujitsu.
Consumer NiMH rechargeable AA or AAA batteries that are made in Japan in ANY brand were made at the Twicell factory although that doesn’t mean the battery will necessarily be the low self discharge (LSD) technology as the factory also makes the standard non LSD high capacity NiMH consumer AA/AAA cells for many brands.
FDK consumer batteries, both rechargeable and non-rechargeable batteries are branded Fujitsu.
Hence:-
Fujitsu HR-3UTA = Sanyo HR-3UTGB
Fujitsu HR-3UTHB = Sanyo HR-3UWXB and Panasonic BK-3HCC (both 2nd generation high capacity. There is no 3rd generation LSD high capacity yet. There was a brand and model number change only).
FDK Twicell factory model numbers HR-3UTGC / HR-4UTGC = Panasonic BK-3MCC / BK-4MCC (if made in Japan).
It appears for export markets Panasonic have decided to retain the large eneloop logo and replaced the small Sanyo logo with a small Panasonic logo for the 2100 cycle versions whether made in Japan or China. The same will be the case for Eneloop Pro which is replacing XX. What they do with the logos for the Japan market remains to be seen. The Japan eneloop web site still shows a large Panasonic logo with a small eneloop logo.
It’s thought for the time being the eneloop batteries sold in Japan as well as in Europe will remain those produced by FDK made in Japan.
[quote=accumulator]
The new 2100 cycle models that are made in China come from Panasonic’s Wuxi factory in China. An educated guess is they are re-badged Evolta’s that also come from this factory . More profit for Panasonic since they become the manufacturer rather than outsourcing supply of the product. They are not the same technology which is held by the FDK Twicell in Japan. Allegedly they are using Panasonic’s Evolta technology which many in the battery industry considers to be inferior.[/QUOTE]
I’ll believe this when I see the performance tests that prove it. Until then I remained subscribed to the idea that Panasonic aren’t stupid enough to destroy the Eneloop name by sticking it on inferior batteries.
Any given product can be produced in any number of different factories owned by any number of different companies located in any number of different countries. As long as the product is produced to spec, and the QC is good, the consistency can be there. In other words, Panasonic bought technology, and they can manufacture it wherever they want.
Believe what you like however I think you are missing the point that a company cannot use technology patented and owned by another company without agreement to use that technology in their own manufacturing. This is not the case. Panasonic never owned the technology to manufacture eneloop. They’re not using not the same technology for making their own production in their own factory in China. Even if the QC is as good or better it’s not the same specification or patented technology. The patents reside with the FDK Twicell factory.
It’s unsurprising the product model numbers Panasonic use for eneloop have changed completely. The UTG model numbers are factory designations. With Panasonic starting to shift supply from the Twicell factory they couldn’t use the same model numbers so not unusual that they never used HR-3UTGC which is the Twicell factory designation for the Japan made 2100 cycle product.
Maybe this will help: Transfer of Sanyo Twicell & Lithium factories to FDK announcement
Here’s a photo I just got of the China made product. Not a lot of difference in stated performance however the capacity retention differs by 5% over 5 years, down from 70% to 65%.
If it’s the same product then why the difference?
I used to deal with audio products. Remember the Japanese company named Nakamichi? They used to make the best cassette recorders, eventually branching out into CD players and amplifiers/receivers. One time my supplier gave me a Nakamichi integrated amp that was made in China. It was a lot inferior, from its finish right to its sound. Even the Finish-made Nokia is a lot better than those made in China. So it does not follow, in some cases. non sequitur
Thanks for the info accumulater i do believe you!!
So you're saying that the EU-sold new Eneloops with big Eneloop logo and small Panasonic label are all made in China in the Panasonic owned Wuxi factory in China?
But i still believe that these new cells are superior to the Japan made 3rd generation Eneloops by Sanyo
