Sony Group Corporation has announced a memorandum of understanding to spin off its global television and home audio operations into a joint venture with TCL Electronics Holdings, with the Chinese manufacturer taking 51% operational control. The deal, pending final binding agreements by March 2026 and slated to begin operations in April 2027, effectively ends Sony’s run as a fully integrated television maker while preserving the Bravia brand under TCL’s manufacturing umbrella.
The structure mirrors the fate of several Japanese TV brands over the past decade. TCL gains operational control over product planning, design, manufacturing, sales, logistics, and customer support for Sony- and Bravia-branded televisions and home audio products. Sony retains a 49% minority stake, contributing its image and audio processing intellectual property, picture tuning expertise, and brand equity to the venture.
Sony’s television revenue for the fiscal year ending March 2025 declined approximately 9.6% year-over-year, with global market share now trailing mid-tier brands including Xiaomi. The segment’s low margins and intense price competition from vertically integrated Chinese and Korean manufacturers have made television an increasingly difficult business for scale-constrained legacy players.
The company has spent the better part of a decade pivoting toward higher-margin intellectual property businesses, film, anime, music, gaming, and sports rights, while systematically exiting consumer electronics categories including PCs, tablets, portable media players, and low-end televisions. The Bravia line survived longer than most Sony hardware businesses due to its premium positioning and integration with the company’s broader content ecosystem narrative.
TCL shares surged more than 16% in Hong Kong trading following the announcement, marking the stock’s largest intraday gain since April 2025. Sony shares dipped 0.9% in Tokyo.
For the display industry, the transaction formalizes a manufacturing reality that has been building for years. Sony ceased in-house LCD and OLED panel production long ago, sourcing displays from external suppliers. Under the joint venture structure, TCL becomes the primary panel and production source, while Sony contributes processing algorithms, calibration expertise, and brand value.
Future Bravia televisions will combine Sony’s picture and sound processing with TCL’s panel technology, manufacturing scale, and supply chain infrastructure. The arrangement resembles licensed or OEM relationships that other former Japanese television brands adopted before fully or partially exiting the market.
Through at least 2026, Sony-branded televisions continue under current operations. The joint venture, subject to regulatory approvals, would begin operations in April 2027.
For TCL, the transaction accelerates a long-running effort to move up the value chain. The company has grown into a major budget television brand in the United States and previously licensed the BlackBerry and Alcatel brands for mobile devices. At CES 2026 in Las Vegas, TCL occupied one of the most prominent display booths, displacing Samsung Electronics from its traditional position.
Acquiring operational control of Bravia gives TCL a globally recognized premium brand and access to Sony’s processing know-how—assets that could support more direct competition with Samsung and LG at the high end while consolidating TCL’s dominance in midrange segments.
The Japanese Television Exodus Continues
Sony’s restructuring extends a pattern of Japanese retreat from television manufacturing. Toshiba, Hitachi, Mitsubishi Electric, and Pioneer have exited the business entirely. Panasonic Holdings and Sharp have de-emphasized television in their growth strategies. The common thread: brand-rich but scale-poor legacy manufacturers struggling against vertically integrated rivals with panel production, component supply chains, and volume manufacturing economics that Japanese companies could not match.
Industry analysts point to sub-1% forecast growth in global television shipments as context for Sony’s decision. The company evidently sees greater upside in monetizing content, gaming platforms, and imaging technology than in fighting margin wars over commodity large-screen displays.
The critical uncertainties concern Bravia’s future positioning. From a minority ownership position, Sony’s ability to enforce strict quality and performance standards remains unclear. How much of Sony’s television-specific research and development budget survives once the division operates within a cost-focused joint venture structure is similarly uncertain.
The risk, from an enthusiast perspective, is that Bravia’s historic positioning as a reference-grade, R&D-driven premium display line erodes if TCL prioritizes volume over differentiation. The counter-argument: Sony’s processing and tuning expertise combined with TCL’s panel technology and manufacturing scale could yield competitive products at more aggressive price points.
Whether Bravia retains its reputation as a reference display line or transitions toward a premium-styled TCL sub-brand will depend on execution decisions that remain years away from market visibility.
