【Television Business】All Japanese TV brands acquired by Chinese capital within ten years? Panasonic and Sony change hands successively within the year

Recently, Panasonic China announced that the company has signed a comprehensive partnership agreement with Skyworth in the European and North American markets. In the future, Skyworth will be responsible for supplying television products in these regions. Business in the Japanese market will remain unchanged, continuing to be operated and supplied independently by Panasonic. Market analysis indicates that the “Big Four Japanese TV Giants”—Sony, Sharp, Toshiba, and Panasonic—have all been integrated into Chinese manufacturers’ business systems. The global TV industry’s competitive landscape has officially shifted to a “China-Korea rivalry.”

Panasonic and Sony TV Businesses to Be Taken Over by Chinese Capital Within the Year

An insider close to Skyworth revealed that Panasonic has a strong market foundation and consumer recognition in Europe and America. This cooperation will continue to retain the Panasonic TV brand. An investment professional quoted by domestic media suggested that it is possible Skyworth will fully take over Panasonic’s global TV business in the future.

Earlier this year, Sony and TCL formed a joint venture, with TCL holding 51% of the shares and leading operations. The new entity will handle the global operations of Sony’s TV and home audio businesses, marking Sony’s TV business gradually being managed by Chinese capital.

He Xi and Foxconn Acquisitions of Japanese TV Brands Over the Past Decade

Since 2015, Japanese TV giants have gradually divested their TV businesses and related heavy-asset operations in response to market changes and financial pressures. In 2015, Hisense first acquired Sharp’s Americas operations for $23.7 million and obtained a five-year brand usage rights.

By 2016, under continued financial losses, Sharp accepted an investment of approximately $3.5 billion from Foxconn Group, officially ceding management rights and integrating its years of LCD technology and global channels into Chinese corporate systems.

In 2017, Hisense acquired 95% of Toshiba Visual Solutions for about 12.9 billion yen, also obtaining a 40-year global brand license.

New Technology Development? Hard to Resist the Impact of Small Screens? Chinese Capital TV Brands Face New Challenges

Domestic media pointed out that the success of Chinese TV manufacturers mainly relies on “scale effects + cost control” to dominate the LCD sector. However, facing the development of new visual technologies, Chinese companies also face challenges, forcing them to continue heavy investments in OLED and Mini-LED production lines.

Moreover, the TV industry is facing greater challenges as consumers are drifting away from traditional TVs. With the rapid development of mobile internet, short video platforms, and smart hardware, smartphones, tablets, and even VR/AR devices are increasingly occupying users’ fragmented time. TVs are gradually becoming devices mainly used for “background sound.”