Panasonic announced that it has entered a partnership with SKYWORTH, confirming speculation that the company would be offloading its struggling TV business.
The Details of the Panasonic/SKYWORTH Deal
Under the agreement—confirmed at Panasonic Experience 2026 in Munich by Chuángwéi RGB’s (SKYWORTH’s parent company) CEO Peter Zhang—SKYWORTH will take over for the production, research, development and sales of the Panasonic TV line.
Panasonic will continue to provide input in development, using its years of experience in the AV industry to ensure SKYWORTH continues to produce 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 the partnership, according to the company, is to leverage SKYWORTH’s resources to scale up its presence in North American and European markets. This will not stop production of Panasonic OLED TVs, however, as the company has already confirmed multiple new TVs for 2026.
Panasonic’s Turbulent Re-Entry Into American Markets
After having been absent from American TV markets for a decade, Panasonic announced its return in 2024, entering into American markets with a series of mini-LED and OLED TVs.
Since its entry, however, Panasonic struggled against the likes of Samsung, TCL and Hisense, losing market share to the trio in recent years. In 2025, economic struggles also forced the company to lay off 10,000 members of its global workforce in an attempt to reconfigure operations.
Panasonic’s Partnership and the Sony Parallel
The news from Panasonic mirrors recent developments from Sony, who, in January 2026, confirmed it would be handing over its TV business to the likes of TCL under very similar a very similar agreement with TCL handling production, while Sony will continue to contribute technology, branding and guidance on the company’s TV lines.
Chinese Manufacturers Continue to Gain Ground in U.S.
Global reports have seen a resurgence of Chinese manufacturers in multiple international markets outside of China in recent months with Counterpoint research indicating that TCL is currently leading the pack in global TV shipments as of December.
Rationale for the current push stems from the termination of multiple government subsidies in the Chinese mainland that has led to a satiated local market for the likes of Hisense and TCL, the former of which has seemingly already felt the sting of those subsidies ending.
Tales from the CI Industry
Even prior to these developments, brands like TCL, SKYWORTH and Hisense have been seen stepping up operational aggression in the CI space through the landing of strategic leadership roles from competitors, in addition to the development of higher-end TV products aimed at the custom integration industry.
As of now, however, there is little insight into how well, if at all, these bids are playing out among the CI industry, as current research only reveals trends in the broader consumer markets and not the niche channel that custom integration represents.
Takeaways for Integrators
The Panasonic deal, rather than directly impacting integrators, highlights the increasing competition and influence of Chinese display manufacturers in North American TV markets, especially as it relates to companies that, among experts and enthusiasts, are held in relatively high regards as to the quality of their products.
For both the Panasonic and Sony deals, it is too early to tell how this partnership will affect the performance and overall quality of the TVs moving forward, if at all.
As for the CI industry, CE Pro’s upcoming Brand Analysis report, while focusing on a relatively small subset of integrators at the top end of the industry, may provide the first trace hints as to whether the increased competition and strategic positioning of brands such as SKYWORTH and Hisense are impacting longtime CI staples or if recent efforts have missed the mark.
