Panasonic Aims To Narrow Corporate Focus With Possible Asset Sale To Nokia

has reportedly approached

about a key asset sale. According to

, Panasonic is interested in offloading its cellular base station business. Nokia is one of many prospective buyers that Panasonic is believed to have approached. This is the latest development in what could be Panasonic's strategy to eliminate less profitable businesses and focus on a smaller number of core markets. The company is famous for producing large TV screens, particularly PDPs (plasma display panels). Panasonic began to

from this aging technology earlier this year. Last year Panasonic

with

to build OLED (organic light-emitting diode) displays together. Despite the initiative, Panasonic has

. After the firm was de-listed from the New York Stock Exchange, Panasonic announced that TV sales -- its bread and butter -- had

. In March, Panasonic was rumored to be interested in

to HTC or

. Neither firm seemed to bite, however. Panasonic may now be forced to close that business without any monetary gain. While Panasonic's future is still a question mark, one thing has become clear: the company is eager to become a leaner corporation. If there is one area where Panasonic could grow, it is battery production. The company

with

to build battery cells for 80,000 vehicles. The four-year deal is

in a couple years.

Panasonic will likely fight for a contract renewal, but it could face new competition from

. The South Korean tech giant is rumored to be

to supply additional batteries to Tesla.

knows better than anyone that Samsung is very good at becoming the dominant supplier of significant items. If it manages to secure a deal with Tesla, it could slowly push Panasonic out of the picture. Disclosure: