Panasonic Halts In-House TV Production, Hands Business to China
Panasonic has officially stopped producing its own televisions and handed over the manufacturing, marketing, and sales of Panasonic-branded TVs to the Chinese company, Skyworth.
This announcement was made during a company launch event, as reported by FlatpanelsHD.
Under this partnership, Skyworth will lead sales, marketing, and logistics in several regions, including the United States and Europe.
Meanwhile, Panasonic will remain involved by providing technical expertise and quality control to maintain its audiovisual standards, including the joint development of high-end OLED models.
Panasonic also stated that it will continue to provide support for all Panasonic TVs sold until March 2026, as well as products available from April 2026.
A report by research firm Omdia in July stated that Skyworth is among the top five TV brands based on global sales revenue in the first quarter of 2025, although its position is said to be inconsistent.
This decision is a continuation of Panasonic’s long-term strategy to reduce its involvement in the television business.
During the era when plasma TVs dominated the market, Panasonic was once a leader.
As quoted by KompasTekno from ARS Technica, in 2010, Panasonic controlled 40.7 percent of the global plasma panel market, surpassing Samsung and LG, based on DisplaySearch data.
However, in March 2014, Panasonic stopped producing plasma TVs due to increasing interest in flat-screen LCD TVs and economic pressure following the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy.
In the same year, Panasonic began reducing its TV business in the United States and completely exited the market in 2016. In 2021, the company announced that it would outsource all TV production to an unnamed third party.
Although it briefly returned to the US market in 2024 with OLED and Mini LED TVs said to be designed and developed in Japan, in February 2025, Panasonic President Yuki Kusumi stated that the company was “ready to sell” its TV business if necessary.
With the agreement with Skyworth, Panasonic is expected to reduce the resources allocated to the television business, while still generating revenue from the sale of Panasonic-branded TVs.
This move also marks a further decline in TV production in Japan. Several other Japanese companies, such as Sharp, Toshiba, Hitachi, and Pioneer, have already left the TV production market.
Earlier this year, Tokyo-based Sony also announced the sale of 51 percent of its home entertainment business, including TVs, to TCL, which is based in China.
During the launch event of the partnership, Panasonic also showcased two OLED TV prototypes, including one model using the latest Tandem WOLED panel from LG Display.
This indicates the possibility of new TV designs with the Panasonic logo appearing soon.
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