Here's the story:

Originally, KX-T systems were made in Japan, like most Panasonic products. In the late 1980s, AT&T and Comdial (the major American phone system producers) convinced the US government that Asian-made phones were being sold too cheaply in the US, and were unfair competition to AT&T and Comdial.

This was a time when, for example, a speakerphone for an AT&T Merlin was a $300 add-on box, so some people felt that AT&T prices were too high, rather than Asian phones were not high enough; but AT&T convinced the Feds to apply huge punitive "anti-dumping" duties on most Asian-made business phone systems.

This would have approximately tripled the price of Panasonic phones, and quickly kill their business. But Panasonic isn't stupid. They set up KX-T assembly lines in Britain, first in Birmingham, England, and then in Cwmbran, Wales. And since Great Britain is not in Japan or China, Panasonic escaped the penalty, and thumbed their noses at AT&T.

There were product shortages for several months, but in the end, the new assembly lines started pumping out products and Welsh-made Panasonic prices were pretty close to the previous prices from Japan.

If you get a Panasonic phone system in California, some of it could have traveled from China to Japan to Wales to Panasonic US HQ in New Jersey to a Panasonic regional warehouse to a wholesale distributor to a dealer to you, rather than simply crossing the Pacific.

Voice Processing Systems are apparently not subject to the anti-dumping duty, and they are made in Japan. Consumer phone products are made in several countries.

Some time in 2001, we believe, the anti-dumping duty expired, but Panasonic in the WORLD is happy with the phones from Wales, and will keep getting its phones from there.

• In some countries, the KX-T phones come with "fat" handsets and contrasting-color handset cords, and in some places they have fat handsets with matching cords. US and Canadian phones have "K"-style handsets and matching cords. I'd love for someone to explain the cultural differences that determine these things

• KX-TD systems sold in Australia and in Europe, were able to be connected directly to ISDN lines long before American systems could. 

• The KX-TD412 system sold in Denmark can handle 4 ISDN lines, with up to 4 digital and 8 analog phones.

• Britain has a digital cordless phone system ("DECT"), operating in the 1880-1900MHz range. Multiple DECT handsets can be connected to the same system. Users can make and receive internal and external calls from anywhere on the premises (within range of any of the strategically positioned base stations). 

• Germany has an ISDN-ready KX-TD208, and a KX-TD408, in addition to the KX-TD1232 sold elsewhere.

• The KX-TD208 is also sold in the U.K. It comes configured with one ISDN2 line (2 channels) to connect directly to digital lines. Two additional ISDN2 channels can be connected, for direct connection to devices such as video telephones, Group 4 facsimile machines and ISDN2 compatible high-speed modems, to ensure speedy and efficient data transfer. It also enables faster connection to the Internet, which offers its own vast range of information and services. MSN (Multiple Subscriber Numbering) and DDI (Direct Dialing In). Each KX-TD extension is able to be called easily by having its own direct dial telephone number.

• A small analog KX-T206 is sold in Europe and Latin America and possibly other areas, but not in North America. It can handle two lines and six phones, with two intercom paths; and has some advanced features like fax detection and DISA that were adapted for the new KX-TD308. 

• There are at least two versions. KX-T206SBX has one hybrid port and five single-line telephone ports. KX-T206HBX has six hybrid ports. A hybrid port accepts either a proprietary or single-line telephone. KX-T206SBX does not have a Door Opener Interface.  Intercoms are numbered starting with 21, like the XDPs on the D308. Connections for phones and door phone are with "DDK" jacks. I don't know what they are.

• The KX-T96 was the forerunner of the KX-T336. As mentioned above, the US Government put a big punitive tariff on small phone systems from Japan, so KME moved some production to the UK to avoid the tariff. Also, the 96 was upgraded to the 336, so that it would no longer be considered a small system, and could escape the tariff even if made in Japan. Most of the circuit modules for the 336 have part numbers starting with "96," revealing their heritage. The 96 was sold in many countries (Canada, Hong Kong, New Zealand, etc.), where there was no protective tariff. I think it has been discontinued. The KX-TD500 is sold in several versions around the world. Outside the US, it's similar to the old KX-T336. The US version is more like a big KX-TD1232.

• The Latin-American KX-TA308-616 is almost identical to the American KX-TA624.

• There are often many variations of Panasonic phone products for different countries, with different features and different firmware, and different programming software. I've learned of at least two dozen versions of the KX-TD1232.

• For the US market, KX-TD digital phones come in all-cardboard cartons, but KX-T analog phones are packed in Styrofoam inserts inside cardboard cartons. Anyone know why?

• A number of modules for the digital systems are unavailable in the US, including the KX-TD174 for 16 single-line phones. 

Footnotes in KX-T history

• KX-T7900 four-line 900MHz cordless was announced in September, 1993, but apparently never marketed. Up to eight of the handsets were supposed to work with the KX-T336900 interface unit, which connected to the phone system control unit. The 7900 was a flip-phone design, with a 16-character LCD display.

• The original design for the KX-T7220 non-display digital speaker phone had 12 programmable buttons. When the phone was marketed, it had 24 buttons, like the 7230.

• The eXtra Device Port  was originally called the Multi-Access Port.

• KX-T2140 was the first KX-T "system" phone. It was a modified version of the KX-T2220 (Panasonic's first generation feature phone, from around 1987) with some of the one-touch dialing buttons dedicated to system features. It was used with the original KX-T616 control unit -- a PBX, rather than a hybrid like the later models.

• KX-T30825 was a transitional phone, sold for a short period around 1990 at the same time as the first generation of hybrid phones. It had a more modern styling, like VA-series phones of that period and later 7000 series phones.

• KX-T123231 was a rare black version of the KX-T123230. It never even got into the catalog, but we have one in the AbleComm Panatrivia Museum.

• KX-T7051  was a single-line phone with message-waiting lamp, produced for the 336 system around 1994. After a long search, we got two for the museum.