Panasonic Will No Longer Make Its Own TVs (arstechnica.com)
(Monday February 23, 2026 @05:40PM (BeauHD)
from the former-plasma-king dept.)
- Reference: 0180848154
- News link: https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/26/02/23/229229/panasonic-will-no-longer-make-its-own-tvs
- Source link: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/02/panasonic-the-former-plasma-king-will-no-longer-make-its-own-tvs/
Panasonic is handing over the manufacturing, marketing, and sales of its TVs to Shenzhen-based Skyworth, effectively [1]exiting in-house TV production . Ars Technica reports:
> Skyworth is a Shenzhen-headquartered TV brand. The company [2]claims to be "a top three global provider of the Android TV platform." In July, research firm Omdia [3]reported that Skyworth was one of the top-five TV brands by sales revenue in Q1 2025; however, Skyworth hasn't been able to maintain that position regularly. Panasonic made its announcement at a "launch event," [4]FlatpanelsHD reported today. During the event, a Panasonic representative reportedly said: "Under the agreement the new partner will lead sales, marketing, and logistics across the region, while Panasonic provide expertise and quality assurance to uphold its renowned audiovisual standards with full joint development on top-end OLED models."
>
> Panasonic also said that it will provide support "for all Panasonic TVs sold up to March 2026 and all those available from April." Skyworth-made Panasonic TVs will be sold in the US and Europe. In the latter geography, the companies are aiming for double-digit market share. [...] The news means there's virtually no TV production happening in Japan anymore, as other Japanese companies, like Sharp, Toshiba, Hitachi, and Pioneer, have already exited TV production.
Earlier this year, Sony announced that it was [5]ceding control of its TV hardware business to TCL.
[1] https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/02/panasonic-the-former-plasma-king-will-no-longer-make-its-own-tvs/
[2] https://www.skyworthusa.com/pages/about
[3] https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/skyworth-technology-drives-made-in-china-to-global-success--skyworth-ranks-among-the-worlds-top-5-tv-brands-302496642.html
[4] https://www.flatpanelshd.com/news.php?subaction=showfull&id=1771867397
[5] https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/26/02/05/0839245/china-has-seized-sonys-television-halo
> Skyworth is a Shenzhen-headquartered TV brand. The company [2]claims to be "a top three global provider of the Android TV platform." In July, research firm Omdia [3]reported that Skyworth was one of the top-five TV brands by sales revenue in Q1 2025; however, Skyworth hasn't been able to maintain that position regularly. Panasonic made its announcement at a "launch event," [4]FlatpanelsHD reported today. During the event, a Panasonic representative reportedly said: "Under the agreement the new partner will lead sales, marketing, and logistics across the region, while Panasonic provide expertise and quality assurance to uphold its renowned audiovisual standards with full joint development on top-end OLED models."
>
> Panasonic also said that it will provide support "for all Panasonic TVs sold up to March 2026 and all those available from April." Skyworth-made Panasonic TVs will be sold in the US and Europe. In the latter geography, the companies are aiming for double-digit market share. [...] The news means there's virtually no TV production happening in Japan anymore, as other Japanese companies, like Sharp, Toshiba, Hitachi, and Pioneer, have already exited TV production.
Earlier this year, Sony announced that it was [5]ceding control of its TV hardware business to TCL.
[1] https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/02/panasonic-the-former-plasma-king-will-no-longer-make-its-own-tvs/
[2] https://www.skyworthusa.com/pages/about
[3] https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/skyworth-technology-drives-made-in-china-to-global-success--skyworth-ranks-among-the-worlds-top-5-tv-brands-302496642.html
[4] https://www.flatpanelshd.com/news.php?subaction=showfull&id=1771867397
[5] https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/26/02/05/0839245/china-has-seized-sonys-television-halo
4K @ $150 (Score:2)
by symbolset ( 646467 ) *
Thank goodness it doesn't run AI. Was pricing small TVs to use as an auxiliary monitor today. It's hard to imagine how they make this work financially.
It's basically impossible to stand out (Score:2)
For a computer monitor there are features people want like adaptive sync and super high resolutions but when you're talking a TV there just isn't a big enough difference between one model and another anymore. There is a difference especially if you have really good color vision, for the record I don't, but it's not enough that you can command a premium off your brand anymore.