The Era of Japanese Color TVs "Completely Comes to an End"

Author | Huang Yu

Editor | Wang Xiaojun

Today, TCL, which is making waves on the international stage, will never forget the painful price paid for acquiring the French home appliance giant Thomson's television business twenty-two years ago. That acquisition led TCL to face the biggest crisis in its history, nearly bringing the company down.

However, there are always two sides to a story. It was precisely because of that acquisition that TCL's globalization development opened up. In the words of TCL's founder and chairman, Li Dongsheng, that acquisition made TCL choke on water, but it also taught them how to swim.

Twenty-two years later, standing at a new starting point with hopes of establishing five more TCLs overseas, Li Dongsheng has led TCL to acquire the television business of a digital giant.

On January 20, TCL's subsidiary TCL Electronics and Sony simultaneously announced that the two parties have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to promote the establishment of a joint venture in the home entertainment sector: TCL will hold 51%, and Sony will hold 49%.

The joint venture will take over Sony's home entertainment business, covering the research, design, manufacturing, sales, logistics, and customer service of products such as televisions and home audio systems, while continuing to use the two core television brands "Sony" and "BRAVIA." This also means that TCL will gain controlling and operational rights over Sony's television business.

According to the plan, both parties will sign a formal agreement by the end of March 2026, and the new company is expected to officially start operations in April 2027.

This is not only another expansion of TCL's global footprint but also a landmark event in the history of the global television industry, signaling the complete end of the Japanese television era dominated by Sony, Sharp, and Panasonic.

Qunzhi Consulting also believes that if the joint venture proceeds smoothly and TCL Electronics gains control of Sony's television business, this acquisition will be one of the few mergers between first-line brands in the global television market in nearly twenty years, which will have a comprehensive and far-reaching impact on the global television market.

This shocking merger in the industry reflects the careful consideration of two giants at a turning point in the era.

It is not difficult to see that against the backdrop of structural upgrades in the terminal consumer market, consumers are pursuing higher quality audio-visual experiences, which has also led to two major structural growth trends in the overall slowing TV market: larger sizes and higher-end products.

A report from Industrial Securities points out that since 2020, the sales scale of the domestic and international TV markets has slowed, with the main growth in the industry coming from price increases, making high-end products the mainstream direction of development in the television industry.

For a long time, although Chinese brands have scale in the global market, they still have shortcomings in high-end brand premium capabilities. Sony is synonymous with "high-end technology" in the global television market, with its XR picture quality chip, picture quality calibration technology, and audio-visual ecosystem being its core barriers Therefore, acquiring Sony will undoubtedly further enhance TCL's position in the high-end television market and increase its market share globally.

According to data from Qunzhi Consulting, the global television shipment volume is expected to reach 220.6 million units in 2025, a slight decline of 0.7% year-on-year. Samsung remains the champion with a shipment volume of 35.3 million units, with a market share slightly rising to about 16%. TCL follows closely with 30.4 million units, a year-on-year growth of 5.4%, becoming the top brand with the most significant growth, achieving a market share of 13.8%. Hisense (including Toshiba) ranks third with 29.3 million units, holding a market share of 13.3%.

Qunzhi Consulting estimates that if the joint venture is established and successfully put into operation by 2027, the combined market share of TCL and Sony is expected to reach 16.7%, potentially surpassing Samsung to become the global leader, completely rewriting the competitive landscape of global television brands that has existed for decades, and marking the first time a Chinese brand has challenged for the crown in the global television market.

In addition, TCL Group's semiconductor display panel company, TCL Huaxing, is also an important supplier for Sony televisions. After the acquisition, the panel supply chain for Sony televisions is expected to significantly tilt towards TCL Huaxing, achieving deep vertical integration from panels to end products.

TrendForce believes that both parties are expected to form complementary strengths in branding, technology, and key component supply chains. Sony can leverage TCL's strengths in Mini LED supply to further align high-end products with Mini LED TVs in the short to medium term, and in the long term, it is expected to become the outlet for TCL CSOT OLED television panel capacity.

For Sony, selling its television business to TCL is undoubtedly the optimal solution after careful consideration.

Sony has been deeply involved in the global television market for over 60 years. In 1990, its global market share in the television business exceeded 20%.

TrendForce pointed out that Sony's television shipments peaked at 21.5 million units in 2010, with a market share of 11.4%, ranking third globally.

However, in the past decade, as Chinese brands have rapidly risen in the global market, coupled with Sony's weakened cost competitiveness and declining supply chain integration capabilities, the global shipment scale of Sony televisions has been declining year by year.

According to Qunzhi Consulting statistics, Sony's global television shipment scale is expected to be 4.1 million units in 2025, a year-on-year decrease of 13.3%.

By transferring control, Sony can leverage TCL's vast supply chain advantages and manufacturing efficiency to enhance product competitiveness, while shifting its focus from heavy hardware manufacturing to more profitable OTT streaming platforms, video, and gaming content ecosystems.

The decline of Sony's television business is a reflection of the collective exit of Japanese television brands from the central stage.

Looking back at the global television landscape over the past few decades, this is a grand evolution from "Japanese dominance" to "China-Korea rivalry."

In the 1980s and 1990s, Japanese televisions, represented by Sony, dominated the world. Sony, Sharp, Panasonic, and Toshiba were not only barometers of television technology but also synonymous with high-end and prestige During the golden age of television technology in Japan, Sony's Trinitron technology almost became the quality standard for color televisions. At that time, a 29-inch Sony Trinitron television sold for over 10,000 yuan in the Chinese market.

At its peak, Japanese brands held nearly 40% of the global television market share.

However, as display technology shifted from CRT to LCD, Japanese companies gradually fell behind in industry chain integration and cost control. Subsequently, South Korean companies Samsung and LG surpassed them through aggressive investments in panel technology. In the past decade, Chinese companies have rapidly risen, relying on strong local manufacturing capabilities and panel industry chains (such as BOE, TCL Huaxing).

Before Sony's ownership change, Hisense had already acquired Toshiba's television business, Foxconn acquired Sharp, and Panasonic Group's global CEO, Yasuaki Shimizu, stated last year that they were considering selling their television business.

Now, the change in Sony's television ownership officially marks the end of the once-glorious era of Japanese color televisions.

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