Like many Japanese consumer electronics companies, Panasonic has tried to be all things to all customers, making everything from smartphones to solar panels. And like its domestic rivals, it faces competition from lower-cost manufacturers in South Korea and China. Panasonic lost a combined 1.5 trillion yen in the two years ended in March 2013. Over the past year, however, CEO Kazuhiro Tsuga has engineered a revamp of the Osaka-based company. The strategy is beginning to pay off. Operating profit at Panasonic's automotive and industrial systems unit, which makes batteries and car entertainment systems, jumped to 28.2 billion yen in the last quarter of 2013, compared with a loss of 800 million yen the year before. Earnings in the appliances unit increased 60%, to 9.8 billion yen, while profits for the company as a whole increased 20% in the quarter, to 73.7 billion yen -- 68% higher than analysts' estimates.