Panasonic is offloading its European TV business to China via a new strategic partnership
Has another Japanese TV legend bitten the dust?
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Panasonic has announced that it’s entered a partnership with Chinese AV brand Shenzen Skyworth, under its parent company Chuángwéi RGB, to secure the future of its OLED, Mini LED and QLED TVs in Europe.
After years of speculation, and confirmation from Panasonic itself that it was looking to restructure and potentially offload its struggling TV business, a deal has finally been struck to ensure that the brand will continue to sell TVs in the UK and European markets.
Announced at Panasonic Experience 2026 in Munich, Chuángwéi RGB’s CEO Peter Zhang confirmed the partnership, and assured members of the press that the company will work alongside Panasonic to continue delivering products that “stay true to Panasonic TVs”.
The deal hands the production, research and development, and sales duties to Skyworth, while Panasonic will provide input in development, using its years of experience in the AV industry to ensure Skyworth continues to produce high-quality sets under the company’s name.
Panasonic will also handle technical support of TVs purchased before March 2026, with this deal set to officially begin on 1st April 2026.
The goal of this strategic partnership (the same term used by Sony and TCL when they announced their respective deal) is to scale up Panasonic’s presence in Europe.
Skyworth promises to leverage its manufacturing, development, resources and scale to expand Panasonic’s presence within this crucial market.
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Panasonic has been losing market share to the likes of Samsung, TCL and Hisense in recent years, and the brand wants to regain some of that to solidify its position as a “top five global television brand”.
We also speculate that this deal will greatly reduce the cost of Panasonic TV production.
While we’re happy to see Panasonic soldier on, especially after it produced two five-star TVs last year, in the form of the Z90B and Z95B (both of which roll over into 2026 and will stay in Panasonic’s TV lineup), we can’t help but feel the same pang of scepticism we felt upon Sony announcing that it will sell a majority stake of its home entertainment business to TCL.
That being said, the sentiment that “Panasonic TVs will stay Panasonic TVs” was echoed constantly throughout the company’s press conference on Monday, so we hope that both companies stick to their word here.
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Lewis Empson is a Senior Staff Writer on What Hi-Fi?. He was previously Gaming and Digital editor for Cardiff University's 'Quench Magazine', Lewis graduated in 2021 and has since worked on a selection of lifestyle magazines and regional newspapers. Outside of work, he enjoys gaming, gigs and regular cinema trips.
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